A Star at Midnight
by Hikuro Yasei
Summary: She was rude, persistant, annoying, short-tempered, immature, hard-headed, conceited, and everything else he could think of. And he couldn't get enough of her. ItachixOC, pre-massacre
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Naruto.**

**This takes place when Itachi is 12, btw ^^

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Her name was Ayano Uchiha. They had met because of their parents, and in their parent's eyes they were already engaged.

"There's a branch of Uchiha that is growing too distant from the rest of us," his mother had told him. "We want to fix it before we have the same problem as Hyuuga."

Now they were standing in front of a house on the edge of the compound, his parents standing behind him and two more people standing in front of him.

"This is my daughter, Ayano," Mari Uchiha introduced. Ayano had chocolate brown eyes-most likely from a non-Uchiha relative- and long, wavy dark hair she flat-out refused to put up. She was shorter than him, but the same age. Her skin was pale and she was thin, making her look fragile.

"I'm Uchiha Itachi," the boy introduced, bowing reluctantly and shooting a glance back at his mother. His father was displeased, of course, but he was displeased about anything Itachi did outside of training.

...And apparently forcing them together was the best way to 'fix it'.

"I know," the girl-Ayano- replied. Itachi winced slightly. If she was a fangirl, he was going to commit suicide... "The way you're flaunted about, I doubt there isn't a person in Konoha who doesn't know who you are." Itachi blinked.

"Ayano!" Mari scolded. Ayano looked at her with a raised eyebrow and received a scolding glare. Mari turned to Mikoto and Fugaku. "I am very sorry about my daughter's behavior," she apologized sincerely. "Apologize, Ayano!"

"I regret nothing," her daughter sniffed, turning her head. Itachi shot his mother an 'Are you serious?' look.

"It's fine," Mikoto laughed, though still a little surprised. She ignored the look. "Well, why don't we catch up? It's been ages since we last talked." Turns out Mikoto and Mari used to work together. But after getting pregnant with Itachi, she decided to stay a house wife and quit her job.

Please, please, please....

"Itachi, why don't you show Ayano around the compound?"

Damn.

"Yes, Mother," he replied obediently, but allowed a hint of annoyance to seep into the sentence. Ayano shot her mother a pleading look, and she was returned with a shooing motion. She didn't bother to hide a groan and trudged up the road, Itachi following with sluggish movements. The walk was completely silent for the nest block, and the simple lack of noise from Itachi was beginning to unnerve her. Yea, she could hear her breathing and footsteps, but it was like he wasn't even _there._ You could only tell he was dragging his feet by how slow his feet moved. She sneaked a glance at him and saw that his eyes were trained on the ground.

After they had turned a corner and were out of seeing and hearing distance of the adults, she turned on him.

"Okay, let's set this straight," she stated. "You don't like me-"

"And you obviously don't like me."

"-no shit. So our pare-"

"Mind telling me why?" She glared at him.

"If you don't interrupt me again." He smirked slightly, but stayed silent. "Okay, well the only impression I've gotten of you is that you're a stuck up prodigy that can't be bothered by a one-fourth Uchiha girl like me." Itachi pressed his lips together.

"That's hardly fair," he noted.

"Hey," Ayano shrugged. "First impressions are everything. It's not my fault you're giving me the wrong one. And you?"

"I am merely showing my dissatisfaction that my parents plan to pair me up with someone I've never even met before while I have more important things to do." He didn't mention that this girl was already frustrating him for some reason. Ayano thought for a minute.

"So, that summed up, you're throwing a fit?" She smirked. Itachi felt a twinge of annoyance.

"Me?" he countered. "I know it wasn't _me_ earlier who whined and stomped my foot." She grimaced and 'hmph'ed, getting angry when he simply walked past her without a glance in her direction. "So why am I being forced to show you around?"

"I just moved here," she replied stiffly. Itachi rose an eyebrow, but she pointedly ignored him.

"Entrance gates," he pointed out in a monotone voice, motioning toward the compound gates. "It leads to the main road. Most of the shops and Uchiha-owned restaurants are here. If you follow this road to the end and take a right, there's a lake and a park." Itachi seemed content describing the compound without showing it to her. "There are usually gaurds stationed at the gates, and non-clan members are not allowed pass without permission." Ayano frowned.

"That's stupid," she interrupted. "And I doubt I'll remember where things are if you just tell me." Itachi turned his emotionless gaze on her.

"You complain alot, don't you?" he asked rhetorically. Her mouth fell and she glared at him.

"At least _I_ don't have a stick shoved up my ars," she shot back. His gaze hardened.

"I don't think you'll last here. You're too out of control." She was taken back by this, and it only fueled her anger.

"Well I don't want to be whipped like the rest of you!" He glared at her now, and she had to admit it was intimidating.

"We're going back, _fourth Uchiha girl._" he stated harshly, turning around. Her mouth fell open in shock again.

"You piss me off," she seethed, walking ahead. She was fuming, stomping off in one direction when she heard a clearly annoyed voice from behind her.

"Where are you going?" She glanced back at him, seeing he was half turned to walk a different way.

"Home." She replied. "Where are _you_ going?" He glared at her again.

"You're house. My parents are still there." She felt a flush spread up her cheeks but willed it away, walking the way Itachi was turned. She scowled when he smirked at her.

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Ayano burst through the door, muttering good night and stalking up the stairs. Itachi appeared, a scowl on his face, seconds later. Mikoto looked from Ayano to Itachi with questioning eyes, but Itachi forced out one word.

"_No."_ he growled, then turned and walked away, leaving his stunned parents.

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"Is he that bad?" Mari asked her daughter through the bathroom door. With an apology, Mikoto and Fugaku had left, leaving her to calm down her daughter.

"_Yes!_" she replied. "He's so emotionless or angry all the time! And he just gives me this bad feeling!"

"You can't say that, Ayano, you met him two hours ago."

"You want me to _marry_ that block?" came her daughter's exasperated voice. "I'm not even a teenager!"

"You'll get used to him," Mari tried to convince her daughter. "You barely know him."

"_Exactly!_"

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"Oh, Itachi, this is for the clan," his Mother tried to convince him. Itachi shot her a look.

"Mother. I'm _twelve._ I have ANBU duties piled on top of police work piled on top of these clan _meetings," _he sneered the word. "I don't have time to be getting married anytime soon, and even if I did, I refuse."

"We don't want the clan to become too distant from each other," she sighed. Itachi didn't answer as Sasuke came into the room. His face brightened when he saw Itachi, and he proceeded to glomp him.

"Aniki!" he exclaimed, grinning. Itachi smiled down at him and poked his forehead, making Sasuke complain.

"Ano, Itachi..." his mother trailed off. Itachi got a bad feeling. "We're having dinner at Mari-san's house tommorow."

...

"Aniki? You're face looks funny."

"...Excuse me, I have to go bash something into a wall."

"What?"

"Nothing."

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"Ayano, wake up!" Said girl groaned. "I need you to go to the store real quick and buy some vegetables."

"But Mom, it's Saturday!" Ayano called back down.

"I have to watch the bread, and the beef is almost done," Her mother said by way of excuse. "Do you want to eat tonight?"

"NO." came her muffled reply. Mari's sigh could be heard even in Ayano's room. "Okay, okay," Ayano whined, getting up. In a few minutes she was stumbling down the stairs, waiting to wake up entirely.

"Money's on the counter," her mom told her. "Want some coffee?"

Ayano was out that door faster than you could say disgusting-black-sewage-water.

Out of habit, she turned left to go to the market and when she kept winding down roads, she realized she was lost. She cursed herself for forgetting and the weasel for not showing her the compound thoroughly, and backtracked her steps. She wound up back at her house, and stayed on her road, looking down others to find the Main road. She saw it and started making her way towards it. When she noticed something oddly familiar, she stopped and looked around.

"Damn weasel," she muttered. She had been going the right way before! She brooded a bit before running her errand, noticing the strange looks people gave her, and hurried back home. She turned a corner and nearly ran into a dark haired boy a few years older than her.

"Whoa, there," the teen steadied her. "Sorry about that."

"Sorry," Ayano said back, backing up so she wasn't so close and looking up at the teen. His eyes scanned her face.

"...You the new girl?" he asked. Ayano winced at the term. He made it sound like she was a transfer student or something.

"Eh, yea..." The boy then surprised her by grinning.

"Welcome to the clan," he told her, clapping her shoulder. She muttered a thank-you before turning to leave.

Someone jumped from the rooftops and landed behind the teen.

"Shisui, we're already late," the person stated. He was wearing full ANBU attire. Shisui chuckled nervously. Ayano froze at the aight of the masked person.

"_You!_" she hissed. Shisui whipped his head around to face her, and the masked man stiffened noticeably.

"You know him?" Shisui asked, stunned. He looked back at his teammate.

"Only you can make me pissed just by looking at you," she snarled. "_Itachi._" Shisui's eyes bulged out of his head, then turned to look at Itachi. Itachi glared at her through his mask.

"Damn," Shisui commented. "What'd you do to piss _her_ off?"

"It's nothing," came the cold reply. Ayano glared at him before turning around and walking off without a word.

"...How the hell did she know it was you?"

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**Kk, first chapter!**

**....**

**sucks, doesn't it? T.T I want your criticism, so review!**

**Ayano means "my color" or "my design"  
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	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Naruto~**

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Ayano repressed the urge to groan again as she set the table. She had helped her mother cook since she got back from the store, not mentioning her little run in with Itachi. Lord, Mari even made her get dressed up for the occasion. She was actually considering running out the back door and across Konoha to her friend Ayame's dad's restaurant to hide out. She glanced at the door longingly before her mother asked for help. She was praying to every god she had ever heard of that it would snow or hail or something....

Oh, who was she kidding, she lived in Konoha, land of snows-once-a-millennium.

Just as she gave the dish to her mom, there was a knock at the door that made her stomach sink.

Looks like they're still coming...

"Get that, would you?" her mom asked, sticking a pan in the oven. Ayano held back another sigh and went to answer the door.

When she opened it, she was greeted by two familiar faces and one unfamiliar one. Her eyebrows rose at the uncomfortable-looking seven year old, that looked similar to Itachi, standing next to Mikoto.

"Hello, Ayano-chan," Mikoto greeted, smiling. Ayano smiled back and invited them in the house to be polite, pointedly _not_ looking at Itachi. Mari came out of the kitchen, drying her hands on a towel, and they greeted each other.

"My husband couldn't make it," Mikoto apologized. "He was too busy with work."

"Oh, that's fine," Mari waved it off. She smiled down at the seven year old. "And who is this?"

"This is my youngest son, Sasuke," said person's mother stated, patting Sasuke on the shoulder. Ayano couldn't help but think that his parents favored him in some way, to name him after a samurai and name his brother 'weasel'. But then that would be ridiculous, because they would have made the names up before they were born.

Ayano didn't notice Mikoto talking to her.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, you were saying?" She flushed in embarrassment. Mikoto grinned.

"I was asking if you are liking the compound," she repeated. Sasuke, standing beside Itachi, was looking around curiously.

"Oh, I still get lost a little, but it's nice," Ayano flushed again. Mikoto smiled at her.

"You'll get used to it," she assured her.

"Well," Mari clapped her hands together and grinned at Mikoto. "We should eat before the food gets cold. How 'bout it?" Mikoto grinned back.

"Do you still make you're otherworldly dishes?" Mikoto asked, following Mari to the dining room. Mari laughed.

"I've experimented a few times, but never on guests," she told them. Ayano tried to drown all of them out. She followed Mikoto and Itachi, Sasuke hot on his heels, followed her.

The guest's of course had perfect manners, even Sasuke. It still unnerved her how silent Itachi was, but she was glad she could have started up a conversation with his brother, who was chatting animatedly. He was telling her about how he started school recently, and the teachers he did and didn't like. Mari and Mikoto were talking amongst themselves at first, but then secretly shifted their attention to Ayano's and Sasuke's conversation.

"Do you like children, Ayano-chan?" Mikoto asked her suddenly. Ayano new she was walking into dangerous territory, and even saw Itachi on the opposite side of the table tense. Just as she was about to reply, her mother beat her to it.

"She's taking on a summer job at the orphanage," Mari stated proudly. Ayano inwardly cursed, and Itachi sighed quietly. Mikoto's eyes glinted.

Perfect Wife for Itachi Checklist:

Likes children---check.

"Is that so?" she asked, trying to glance from her eldest son to Ayano briefly, probably wondering what possible children would look like. Ayano nearly blanched at the thought.

Instead, she smiled politely.

"Yea, I needed something to do over the summer, so..." she trailed off, grateful that Sasuke decided to pull her attention back to him. Mikoto was grinning again, and Ayano sighed.

Sasuke likes her, she likes Sasuke---check.

Soon, but longer than she had hoped for, supper was over. Mari and Mikoto were going to do some more 'catching up-' coughplottingcough, and Ayano excused herself to the backyard. Itachi looked fully content to survive through the mother's odd glances and whisperings, but Sasuke followed Ayano and he was told to keep an eye on his brother.

Ayano was sitting on the deck outside and Sasuke was playing with Aki, Ayano's pet turtle. Itachi walked over to her, and with a sigh, sat down in the last available spot- the one beside her. She was feeling a little skeptical after he did that, and she instantly felt wary. She half expected him to insult her in some way, but he never did, keeping his eyes on Sasuke.

"You know," she mused out loud after a few minutes, experimenting something. "Maybe if I act insane, our parents would just forget about this crap and send me to an _official_ loony-bin." Itachi replied with a 'hn' but otherwise showed no reaction to her existence. Itachi shifted and his arm brushed against his pants, and the sound of fabric against fabric flew to her ears.

"Okay," she stated, turning to him. "Who are you?" He looked slightly surprised by her outburst, but only raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" She scowled at him and crossed her arms.

"You're not Itachi." She raised her chin defiantly and he looked at her like she was stupid.

"I obviously am," he replied, glancing at Sasuke, who's attention was still on the turtle.

"No," she objected. "You're not making me pissed just by being within twenty feet of you, and Itachi is creepily quiet. You just made a noise." Itachi rolled his eyes.

"It's called talking." It sounded like there should be a 'dumbass' at the end of it, and she felt her anger rise.

"I remember you now," she said, pointing an accusing finger at him. "You're that guy I ran into today. Shusei or something." Itachi blinked, and his stoic mask fell off, leaving a stunned one.

"How did you know it was me?" he asked, shocked. "And it's 'Shisui.'"

"Well, the reason's I named earlier, and that you didn't get pissed when I down-talked this place." She turned back to the yard, a scowl on her face. "And you're aura is completely different." He blinked.

"My _aura?_" Her scowl was replaced by a skeptical look.

"I don't know how to describe it." She looked down at her hands. "It's just some weird feeling I get around people. Mostly it's ninjas. Most of the time, it's..." She frowned, at loss for the right word. "Cold, I guess. Itachi and his dad's are both cold and threatening, but Itachi's is scarier. Yours is threatening but less cold." Shisui frowned, and had the idea to flare his chakra.

When he did, she jumped and turned to him with a shocked expression. "What was that?"

"What was what?" he replied, feigning innocence.

"It..." she frowned at him. "You're aura...it like expanded or something." Shisui couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. This girl was good at detecting chakra. Not to mention that Itachi masked his chakra 99.9% of the time and she _still_ felt it.

"You're delusional," he lied, turning back to Sasuke. She sat up straight, still frowning, and switched topics.

"Why are you here instead of him?" she demanded. Shisui glanced back at her.

"Itachi practically begged me to come instead of him," he explained. "If it wasn't for the fact that Sasuke was coming, he wouldn't have bothered and would probably just have disappeared. He made me come instead because he _really_ didn't want to. He wanted me to..." he trailed off. "What did he say? 'Make sure you didn't corrupt his little brother.'" Ayano felt her mouth fall open in disbelief.

"God, he pisses me off!" she exclaimed in a hushed voice, not wanting to cuss in front of Sasuke. Shisui surprised her by laughing.

"Hey, whatever it is you're doing, keep doing it. Itachi's showing more emotion in two days than he has in the past month." She frowned at him.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Aniki," a tired voice called. Sasuke walked up to them, rubbing an eye. Shisui shifted back to Itachi mode and ushered his brother inside with Ayano following, holding Aki.

"Oh, we've overstayed our welcome!" Mikoto exclaimed, apologetic. Sasuke was having trouble keeping his eyes open.

"It's fine, it's fine," Mari objected. "Come over whenever you want." She giggled at Sasuke. "And I think the little one is ready for bed." Sasuke puffed up and stubbornly forced his eyes open. Ayano grinned and Shisui rolled his eyes, then leaned towards her.

"Hey," he whispered to her. "About Itachi, don't be too hard on him. There's a reason he's the way he is." Ayano bit her lip and didn't reply.

"Well, thank-you for the meal, it was delicious," Mikoto thanked, smiling. Shisui shot a good-bye glance to Ayano, who said a quick bye to Sasuke and went to put Aki back in her tank while Mari let the guests out. She fell on her bed and took out a random book, flipping to a page and starting to read. A few seconds after the front door shut she heard her mom walking up the stairs and put away her book with a sigh, ready to endure her mother's torment. Mari appeared and leaned against her door frame.

"You and Itachi-san got along better today," she noted, grinning. Ayano was about to complain before her mother cut her off. "What was that he whispered in your ear before he left?" Her grin turned mischievous, and Ayano grabbed the nearest pillow and chucked it at her mom.

"Mom!" she objected. Mari laughed.

She should have fought with him more.

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**Review? Plz? I give you cookie?  
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	3. Chapter 3

**I do not own Naruto.**

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Living poor could really suck sometimes. Especially when your parents used to have a decent amount of income and you were living in an area surrounded by rich people.

And especially when you're parents just got through a nasty divorce and you just got out of a custody hearing deciding which parents you could live with. Even with the best lawyer in Konoha, my Mom ended up getting me because she had the Uchiha clan backing her up. Well, part of it. The other half of them despised us, because we weren't completely Uchiha. What else sucked was that if you were being set up to get married to one of the biggest pricks in the clan, by said clan, when you're _twelve._ Sure, that may not be caused by living poor, but it could be caused by it indirectly. If we weren't poor from the divorce, we wouldn't be living in the compound, and you wouldn't have anything to do with the guy.

So anyways, getting back to the point, living poor really sucks.

Ayano walked the main street in the compound on her way to the main part of the village to look for a job. She gave up her daycare job to get Mikoto off her back. and ff she was going to continue living in the compound, they were going to need more money. Of course she was completely fine with moving, but her Mom had grown attached the the clan by some miraculous reason, and she wanted to keep living there. Said that they were 'finally getting involved with the clan.' Yea, right. Half the people that looked at her on the street were glaring.

She glanced at the bakery on the main street. Gingerbread wafted to her nose, and she inhaled deeply. Dang, that smelled good! She kept walking, shooting a regrettable glance back at the shop.

Of course outside the compound people were more friendly. Familiar shop owners and villagers smiled and waved. She had asked the shop owners if they had any positions available, but the same reply from all of them was a shake of the head. She had checked all the stores within two's hours walking distance of her house, but if she wanted to get a full eight hours of sleep, she couldn't go any further. So with a sigh, she turned around to walk back home, promising to try again the next day. It was already dark, and her mother would be expecting her home soon.

She passed by the bakery again, peeping inside the open door and catching a glimpse of one of the owners. He was an old man, around maybe his late forties, and he seemed in a hurry. He was carrying a large bag. His wife was nowhere to be seen, and Ayano guessed she could have been in the kitchen. A call from that area confirmed her guesses.

"Don't forget, we have the Tsubame's order to finish!" a female called.

"I'll hurry," the man replied. Ayano stepped out of the way before she was run over.

"Um," she stopped him for moment. "You're doing deliveries, right? Do you need an help?" The man stopped and looked at her for a moment.

"I think you just saved my life, little one," he smiled. "Do you know where the Soriyoku restaurant is?" Ayano nodded her head. "They ordered some pastry two days ago, do you think you could deliver it to them?"

"Yes, sir," she replied. The man sighed in relief.

"Thank you so much. I'm Teyaki," he introduced.

"Ayano," she replied. Teyaki handed her the bag.

"Just have them sign this slip and return it." He pointed to said slip taped to the box in the bag. "You're the new one?" he asked. She nodded again. "Well, then, welcome the compound. And truly, thank you so much!" He rushed back into the store to finish whatever order he was working on. Ayano hurried on her way to the Soriyoku restaurant. She knew where it was; she had asked there for a job that day. So she had no problem finding it. She dropped off the delivery and they signed the slip, and she made her way back to the compound. She walked into the bakery and saw noone in the front of the store, but heard noises from the back. She made her way to the kitchen and peered in. It was pretty messy, proving they were really busy, and the cleanest areas were the ones the two chefs were working in.

"Um, Teyaki-san?" she asked. Said man looked up from a batch of dough he was kneading. The woman was mixing together some fruity goop.

"Oh, you're back!" he exclaimed. The woman looked up. "That was much faster than I thought!"

"They signed it," she stated, holding up the slip. Teyaki dusted his hands off and walked to take it.

"Thank you, again, so much," he told her with a smile. The woman stopped what she was doing and walked over.

"You're the one that helped us?" Ayano nodded. The woman smiled. "I'm Uruchi. I'm sure my husband has thanked you, but I'll thank you again. We have orders piled on top of orders lately, what with Tanabata coming up soon. I hope we haven't kept you from anything?"

"No, ma'am," Ayano replied.

"Well, then here, as payment." Uruchi went to a basket that had bread slices sitting in it, and pulled out a dark brown slice. Ayano was about the reject the offer, but her mouth couldn't help but water at the sight of the gingerbread. Uruchi laughed.

"You're not going to find a bakery as good as this one," she boasted pridefully as she handed Ayano the piece of bread, who thanked her and nibbled on it. "You wouldn't happen to be looking for a job, wouldn't you?" Ayano looked up from her snack.

"I am." Uruchi grinned.

"Would you like to be a delivery girl?" Ayano blinked in surprise.

"...How far do the orders go?" she asked.

"From various parts of the village," Teyaki replied. "Usually it's around here, though, because they don't want the orders to be cold." Ayano thought for a minute.

"I'm up for it, but I'll have to ask my mom first," she told them.

"Fine with us," Uruchi said. "Tell us tomorrow?" Ayano nodded and left, leaving them to their work. She started at a swift jog to her house. The sky was dark now, and she felt a shiver escape her. She was glad to bwalk through the door into her warm house, pleased she didnt' get lost this time. She found her mother in the living room, reading a book.

"Found a job!" she exclaimed, grinning, and holding up the gingerbread in victory. Mari grinned.

"Where?" she asked, setting her book aside.

"Over at Teyaki-san and Uruchi-san's bakery," the younger replied. "Im doing deliveries around the village for them. I had to tell them I'd check it with you, though."

"Im fine with it," Mari nodded enthusiastically. "You have an ungodly amount of stamina, so I'm sure you won't get tired."

"I have the right to blame dango," she giggled.

"That stuff gets you too hyper," Mari accused. Ayano stuck out her tongue before running up the stairs to take a shower.

**-xXx-**

Her first order was to the place Uruchi had mentioned the day before. She didn't have to go far to find the Tsubame's, they were in one of the houses right outside the compound. When she knocked on the door, she was greeted by a young purple-haired girl around five. Ayano was going to ask for her mother, but the girl cut her off.

"Today's my birthday!" she said energetically. Ayano grinned.

"Congradulations," she told her. "How old are you?" The girl held up her fingers and counted them, then thrust them up.

"Five!" she exclaimed, though she was holding up seven. Ayano laughed.

"Awesome."

"Who is it, Nitsuki?" an older woman's voice called before walking into the front hallway. Ayano held up a bag.

"Delivery?" she questioned. The woman walked to the door and gently moved her daughter out of the way.

"Thank you," she told her, smiling, as she signed the slip.

"Have a good day," Ayano told her. She smiled back down at the girl. "And happy birthday." The mother laughed and thanked her, and Ayano was back on her way to the bakery, where another order was already waiting for her.

"We are getting so much more done!" Uruchi sighed happily as Ayano placed the slip on the counter and picked up the next order. "That one is in the compound this time. It's over at the main house in the center. You know where it is?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Okay." She glanced over at the counter. "Oh! And this is for Sasuke-chan." Aw, crap, Ayano thought to herself. Hopefully, Itachi wouldn't be there. Sure, she liked his brother, but she was trying to avoid him as much as possible. That's why she was looking for jobs _outside_ of the compound.

Uruchi pulled out a small box and placed it in the bag. "The slip's in there. And this should be the last order for the day, so you can take off after that." Ayano blinked in suprise.

"That's it?" she asked. Wow. She had only delivered three orders, counting this one. Uruchi smiled.

"Some clients prefer their orders on specific days, so we make them fresh the day before we deliver them."

"Ohh." Uruchi turned and went back to the kitchen, so Ayano made her way towards Mikoto's house. It was rather easy to find, seeing as how it was the largest house in the compound and right in the middle of it. And if you just took a left at the end of the main road you'd find it.

Mikoto was the one who answered the door when she knocked, and Ayano was grateful. Fugaku scared her, and she hated Itachi. Sasuke, she could deal with, but he was too young to sign the slip.

"Ayano-chan?" Mikoto asked in surprise. "What are you doing here?" Ayano regretfully held up the bag.

"You had an order from Teyaki-san's bakery?" she asked. Mikoto blinked at the package.

"I did," she confirmed. "You work there, now?"

"I started today." She took out the slip for her too sign. "Uruchi-san said the small box was for Sasuke-san." Mikoto smiled.

"Yes, she would do something like that." She signed the slip. "Uruchi-san makes the best banana bread. I'm going to have to order it more often." Crap.

"You wouldn't want to get sick, though," Ayano laughed, inwardly gritting her teeth. She did _not_ want to be coming here more often. Mikoto laughed as well.

"Thank you for delivering this," she told her. "Sasuke will be glad."

"You're welcome," Ayano replied, desperate to get away. "Have a good day."

"You too!" Ayano turned around and quickly walked away, hoping that Mikoto would think she had more work to do or something.

Well, she knew who would be ordering from the bakery more often.

**-xXx-**

She was right. Uruchi told her that there was another order from Mikoto due the next day. For Itachi's _birthday._ Could she have picked this job at any worse timing? Her feet were dragging as she made he way home, and when she walked in the door, her mother, who was cooking in the kitchen, looked at her oddly.

"Tired?" she asked.

"Yep," Ayano lied. Mari glanced at the clock.

"You're home early," she noted.

"Only had two deliveries today," Ayano mumbled. Mari blinked in surprise.

"Only two? I don't think you've been eating you're healthy amount of dango."

"I have," Ayano insisted. "I just didn't sleep good."

"Hmm..." Mari hummed, twisting the spoon. Ayano stared at her for a moment.

"What are you thinking?" she asked suspiciously, narrowig her eyes at her mother. She knew it wasn't good, and she was sure it had something to do with Itachi.

"Itachi-san's birthday is coming up," she stated. Ayano groaned. Yep, she was right.

"And we're going over to his house to have a celebratory dinner," she guessed flatly.

"Yep," her mom replied cheerfully. Ayano's mood worsened, and she grabbed some dango out of the fridge before heading upstairs to read. She was really hoping She had a crapload of deliveries to do tomorrow.

* * *

**Okay, my opinion of the latest Naruto chapter? Sasuke has finally gone crazy! Poor Karin, she was annoying with her fantasies and embarrassing moans she made when she got bit, but hey, she was useful. Sasuke needs to get beat up by Itachi miraculously, and then Naruto, and then Sakura, and everyone down the chain of been-wronged-by-Sasuke-in-some-way people.**

**Review!**

**\|/**


	4. Chapter 4

**I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

He was angry. Actually, angry was an understatement. He walked through his house, eyes narrowed dangerously, as he made his way to his mother, who was in the backyard with Sasuke.

"Mother," he growled out when he opened the door. Sasuke widened his eyes at Itachi's expression and ducked behind his mother. Itachi felt slightly guilty at this, but his anger was renewed when Mikoto was unfazed. "What is the meaning of this?"

"The meaning of what?" Mikoto asked innocently. Itachi raised his chin in defiance.

"Shisui told me." He stated flatly. Actually, he forced Shisui to tell him when his cousin messed up with a cheerful 'See you at dinner tomorrow!' "Since when did we celebrate my birthday? Or invite people I don't know?"

"You're still a kid," Mikoto sighed. "You shouldn't be missing out on these things. And you really should make more friends; you barely have any your age."

"Mother," Itachi began, closing his eyes in an attempt to calm himself. "This marriage foolishness needs to stop. I do _not_ want to marry Ayano, and I don't understand why you are trying so early anyways. You're not going to find someone who would marry us when we're _twelve_."

"Actually," his mother giggled. "Since you became ANBU you were 'legally an adult.' So all you have to do is get the guardian's permission."

"I'm either a kid or an adult, Mother," Itachi reminded her with gritted teeth. She was about to reply when Sasuke interrupted.

"Ayano-san?" he asked. He thought for a minute, then glared defiantly at Itachi. "I'm gonna marry her first!" The other two Uchihas looked down at him. If the situation hadn't been so serious, Itachi would be on the ground laughing.

"There, you have a willing groom," Itachi stated, motioning to Sasuke. Mikoto just sighed. "And Shisui, you suck at spying."

Said boy jumped down from a tree, scratching his head nervously. Itachi just glared at him to take his anger out on something, and Mikoto looked at him scoldingly.

"You weren't supposed to tell him!" she complained. Shisui held up his hands in surrender.

"Hey, if I didn't, he would have invented new torture methods to use on me," he defended. "And I was not looking forward to getting my ass kicked."

"Shisui," Itachi sighed.

"Right. Sorry Sasuke." Mikoto sighed again.

"Well we already told Mari-san and Ayano-san, so the dinner is still on. See you tomorrow, Shisui." She stood up and tugged Sasuke inside, who was protesting.

"Byee," he waved lazily. Almost as soon as the door closed, he felt a dark aura coming from a certain Uchiha.

"Hey, Shisui-nii," Itachi called cheerfully. Shisui immediately tensed and looked at Itachi. He hasn't been called that since Itachi was four.

Itachi held up a kunai and had a fake smile plastered on his face. Shisui gulped. "Wanna spar?"

"What did **_I_** do?!?"

**-xXx-**

"How many more orders for today?" Ayano asked as she lay the slip on the counter.

"Just one," Teyaki replied, bringing out a bag. "This one is to 4102 Ran road, to a Mrs. Yoko."

"4102 Ran, got it." She grabbed the bag and dashed out the door.

The people in the compound didn't glare at her anymore, but she was ignored. She rather preferred the change and it made her feel less self-conscious. After having her bag checked by the guards at the gate, she set on finding Ran road. She had to walk a bit of a distance to get there, and she regretted wasting her energy in a hurry at the beginning. The building was an apartment complex she had never been to. She made her way to the fourth floor and found room 102. Knocking lightly on the door, she tapped her foot patiently, wiping a sheen of sweat from her brow.

"Yes?"

"You had a deliver-" She cut herself off short and stared wide-eyes at the man in front of her.

Brown eyes met brown in shock.

"...Ayano...?" the man breathed. She wiped her face of all emotion and thrust out the slip.

"Please sign here and here," she said flatly, pointing to each spot. The man nervously signed the slip and the bag was thrust into his arms. Ayano was already walking away.

"Wait!" he called."Ayano, wait!" She stopped and turned around to glare at him.

"What do you want?" she spat. The man looked hurt, but didn't back down.

"I wanted to tell you that I still love you and your mother, I always-"

"Don't you dare!" Ayano hissed. "You always loved us, right? Then why the hell did you cheat on her!?"

"Honey? What's going on?" A woman walked out of the room and looked in confusion at Ayano.

"Not now," the man said quickly.

"Who is this?" the woman asked. "She looks like you." Ayano merely grimaced at the woman and turned around to walk away.

"Ayano!"

"No, Dad!" she yelled, whipping back around. "This time it's _**my**_ turn to walk away!" And she did just that, but turned around and ran instead.

By the time she reached the compound she was panting, and there were tears in her eyes. The guards didn't spare her a second glance as she ran through the main gate. There were barely any people out in the streets, and she made it to the bakery quickly.

"I'm back!" she called, trying to steady her voice. Teyaki and Uruchi were back in the kitchen.

"So soon?" Uruchi asked, walking out, but there was no one there. The slip lay on the counter by itself.

She ran to where she thought the park was, remembering when Itachi had pointed her in the direction. She found it easily. There was a small area of grass with a single tree, and off to the side there was a lake. A dock jutted out into the lake and she ran to the end of it and threw herself down, drawing her knees up to her chest and burying her face in her arms. She let out a shuddering breath.

He loved them, yea right! If he did, then he wouldn't have cheated on Mom! And he was actually living with the girl he cheated with! Had he gotten over it that fast? Did they not mean anything to him? Probably not, the way he shot them down every single time they wanted to spend time with him. Or, I don't know, they way he just walked out of the door without a word and only came back a week later because he ran out of money. And _with_ that woman attached to his arm!

She was shaking, trying to keep back tears. It was his fault she was living here.

"Hey."

She whipped around with a gasp to see Itachi standing on the dock behind her, raising an eyebrow down at her.

"Uruchi got worried when you left so suddenly. She went and asked your Mom if you were okay, but she said she hadn't seen you. She and Teyaki and Uruchi are out looking for you." She sniffed and turned back around.

"It's no big deal," she muttered.

"Is it?" she heard Itachi reply sarcastically.

"What do you care," she snapped at him.

"Well, seeing as how I'm supposed to be looking for you, I'm taking you back home." She stood without a word and turned around to start walking home, purposefully hiding her face. "What happened?"

"None of your business." she muttered. She couldn't hear him as she walked, but she had a feeling he was right behind her.

"It's not healthy to bottle up emotions." Hypocrite.

She didn't reply, and heard him sigh behind her. The rest of the walk was silent, with the only sound being the shuffling of her feet. When they got to her house, no one was there. She grudgingly walked inside, and after a moment's pause, beckoned Itachi in.

"Might as well wait here," she muttered. "Living room's over there," she motioned towards it. "Seeing as how you've never been in my house before." Itachi blinked, then smirked.

"Shisui told me you found out it was him," he stated as he walked to the living room.

"Yea, he practically gave it away," she called from the kitchen. "Didn't act like you at all."

"And you know how I act?" he glanced at the pictures lining a bookshelf.

"Well, he was too loud." She walked back from the kitchen with dango in her hand. "He played the part well in front of the parent's, though, but Sasuke kept looking at him funny." Itachi chuckled, but then raised an eyebrow when she glared at him suddenly. "And, come on, 'corrupt you're little brother'? I'm only rude when need be."

"Oh, really," he replied dryly.

"Yes, really," she shot back stubbornly, taking a bite of dango. He glanced at it.

"That actually tastes good?" he asked. She blinked.

"You haven't had it?" He shrugged, going back to looking at pictures. "Good lord, are you even human?? It's like the best thing on earth!" He raised an eyebrow when she ran back to the kitchen and came back, holding another stick. "Here." She handed it to him. He stared down at it. "Be careful of the arsenic in it though, wouldn't want to get a stomach ache." The corner of his mouth twitched and he took a bite, chewing for a few seconds. "Well?"

"It's good," he admitted before taking another bite.

"I knew it!" she exclaimed. "Nobody can resist dango!"

"Ayano?" a voice called from the front door.

"In here, Mom," she called back. Mari rushed into the room, seeing Ayano and enveloping her in a hug.

"Kami, where were you??" she checked her for injuries. "I was worried sick!"

"I'm fine, Mom," Ayano protested. Mari noticed Itachi.

"You found her?" Itachi, probably having whiplash from the sudden change of events, nodded unsurely, and looked openly surprised when Mari hugged him. "Thank you so much!"

"Um," he stuttered. Ayano grinned at the sight.

"Mom, you're making him uncomfortable," she stated flatly. Mari let go of him, apologizing.

"Mari-san? Did you find her?" Uruchi's voice sounded from the front door.

"Yes, she's here," Mari called back. Uruchi walked into the living, then placed a hand over her chest.

"Oh, thank goodness," she sighed.

"Where were you?" Mari asked, turning to her daughter. Ayano hesitated, unsure if she should tell her mother. The only thing it would accomplish is making her upset, though...

"She felt sick and went to the lake to cool off," Itachi spoke up. "I found her asleep on the grass."

Ayano stared at him, shocked, and Mari put a hand to her daughter's forehead.

"Are you okay, honey?" Mari asked, concerned.

"I'm fine, now," Ayano assured, moving away from her mother's hand. "It was probably just some bad dango." Mari frowned.

"Next time come home, though, okay?" she asked. Ayano nodded. She turned to Uruchi.

"Should we go find Teyaki-san and tell him we found her?"

"That's probably a good idea," Uruchi agreed. She smiled at Ayano. "It's good to know you're okay." Ayano smiled back, and Mari gave Ayano a short hug before they left.

"That was...kinda awkawrd," Ayano admitted.

"Bad dango, eh? Maybe you ate the stick with the arsenic," Itachi suggested, his lip twitching up. Ayano allowed herself a brief grin.

"Why did you help me?" she asked. Itachi shrugged.

"You looked like you didn't want to tell her what happened," he told her. Ayano blinked.

"Thanks...I guess," she told him.

"Hn." He bit off the last dango.

* * *

**I have now gained more respect for Sakura! I hope she's still just trying to kill him, though, and not actually trying to leave...**

**Review and I'll give you Itachi!**

**Itachi: Do I have any say in this?**

**Me: You and every fictional character are at the mercy of fangirls, so, no.**

**Itachi: -/.\-*  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**I do not own Naruto**~

**Warning! Perverted things intended in this chapter!**

* * *

_ There were countless people around them, and she held onto her mother's hand tightly, afraid she'd get lost._

_"I won't lose you," her mother assured her._

_"I wanna go home," she whined in return. Festivals just weren't her thing. All the noise and people..._

_"We just got here," her mother soothed. "Try to have fun first." She pouted, looking down at the ground. "You might make some new friends."_

_"I don't want new friends," she whined again. Mari sighed._

_"Don't you want to get a souvenir for Daddy?" she asked her. Three year old Ayano nodded eagerly. "Then we'll go look for something together, okay?"_

_"Okay," Ayano replied cheerfully. They made their way through the crowd, looking at various stalls that lined the streets. The goldfish stand caught her attention, and she tugged her mother's sleeve, pointing to it._

_"Can we get Daddy a goldfish?" she asked. Mari smiled._

_"If we can catch one," she told her. Dodging people that were crowding around the next stall, which had some sort of dancing skit, they walked towards the stall. The price to pay was twenty ryou, and Mari payed extra just in case Ayano didn't get it on the first try.  
_

_Grabbing the odd paper tool, she carefully put it in the water and tried to corner the fish. But the moment she tried to pick up the fish the paper broke, and she pouted. She had it in the water too long and it got soggy. She tried again, this time with a new one, and had it hover over the water and herd the fish. She quickly stuck it in and pulled out the bright orange fish.  
_

_She turned around, grinning in victory to show her mother._

_She wasn't there._

_The people that were watching the dance in the next stall were crowding around the area, pushing the other people away. She stood up in alarm, dropping the goldfish back in the bucket and searching the faces for her mother's._

_"Momma?" she called. She didn't hear anything. "Momma!" Still, no reply. She pushed through the crowd, calling for her mother, but not finding her. She got to where the people had thinned out and looked around her. She couldn't see her anywhere. Tears appeared in her eyes, and her breathing got heavy. "Momma!" Frantic, she started running around the crowd, trying to spot someone she knew. One of the customers had a dog with them, and Ayano accidentally stepped on it's tail, causing it to turn and bark at her. She whimpered in fright, and ran away from the dog as it's owner tried to quiet it._

_She then noticed that she wasn't anywhere near the goldfish stand, and she started crying again.  
_

_"Momma," she whined, sniffing. She wandered over to a random building and crouched down, huddled against the wall._

_Suddenly, she heard someone walk to her, and looked up to see if it was her Momma._

_A small boy stood there, around her age, looking down at her curiously. He had short black hair and onyx eyes and wore a casual t-shirt and shorts. _

_Ayano sniffed again, looking back down. She was cold, and her stomach rumbled uncomfortably._

_A hand touched her hair, and she looked up in surprise. The boy had his hand reached towards her, worry in his eyes._

_"Did you lose you're Daddy?" he asked. Ayano whined pitifully and nodded._

_"I can't find Momma," she cried. The boy blinked, and then pulled her up._

_"I lost my Dad, too," he told her. "Let's look for them together!" He smiled reassuringly at her, and she let a small smile grace her lips as she nodded. _

_"Un!" she agreed. He grabbed her hand and pulled her out into the crowd._

_"Don't let go, 'kay?" he told her. She nodded, and gripped his hand tighter. They walked through the crowd for a while, trying not to bump into anyone and keeping an eye out for their parents. Ayano noticed they were walking to the area where she had last seen her mother.  
_

_"Do you see your Momma?" the boy asked, turning to look at her. He had an excited shine in his eye, as if he was having fun. She looked around again and shook her head. Her eyes started getting teary and the boy frowned and reached over to pat her head. "It's all right, it's all right, we'll find her," he assured._

_"How come you don't look lost?" she asked. He blinked._

_"Huh?" he asked._

_"Why aren't you sad?" she tried again. He cocked his head to the side._

_"Dad's no fun at festivals," he admitted, scrunching up his nose. "I wanted to have some fun." He gazed off into the distance. "Is that you're Momma?" She immediately began searching for her, and saw her looking the crowd and asking people questions, frantic._

_"Momma!" Ayano called. Mari's eyes went to her and she seemed to thank the gods before she ran to her daughter and knealed before her, pulling her into her arms and away from the boy.  
_

_"I'm sorry, baby, I'm so sorry, I won't lose you again," she cooed to her daughter, hugging her._

_"Momma," Ayano cried, clinging to her. She glanced back at the boy and and saw him smile and wave, his eyes still having that fun glint, before walking to a man that seemed to be searching for someone, too. Then man looked down and saw him, then sighed in relief and ruffled his hair with a smile._

After waking up from the dream of that memory of long ago, Ayano recognized the boy and wondered what happened to that happy glint in his eyes.

**-xXx-**

"Ayano, come on, we're going to be late!" Mari shouted up the stairs.

"You know," Ayano sighed as she trudged down the stairs. "I'm feeling extremely imposing about this whole birthday dinner business."

"We aren't imposing," Mari replied. "Mikoto-san and Itachi-san and his little brother are worried after you're little disappearing stunt you pulled today."

"His name's Sasuke, you know," Ayano pointed out. "And what do you mean stunt? I was sick!" Well since she had someone like _Itachi_ backing up her excuse, she was going to overuse it until it ordered a paycheck. Which was impossible, of course, but still.

Lord, what would people think if they could get in her mind.

"Speaking of being sick..." Ayano trailed off suggestively.

"You're going, even if you are sick," her mother retorted, knowing she was faking it.

"But what if I threw up all over Mikoto's husband?" Ayano smirked. _That_ would definitely convince her mother.

Who had stopped completely in the doorway, horrified at the thought, for a full five seconds.

"...Okay, time for some pepto bismol," she exclaimed, turning around and going for the bathroom's medicine cabinet. An expression of horror dawned on her daughter's face.

"No, I'm fine, I'm fine!" Ayano exclaimed hastily. "Not the pink liver soup! I'm not sick anymore! See, feel my forehead!?!?"

"Don't be such a drama queen!"

And after some dramatic events, with one including a koala bear and a chainsaw(**wtf**), the two were on their way to Mikoto's house for dinner.

"My stomach's rotting," Ayano groaned, clutching said area.

"The medicine will start working soon," Mari assured.

"It was the medicine that did it!" Ayano hissed. In her hand she held a bag from the bakery, a present to Itachi from Uruchi. It was banana bread, and the smell of it would have normally made her mouth water, but now it made her feel even sicker.

"I'm going to burn whoever invented pink liver soup," Ayano groaned pathetically.

"Stop acting so pathetic," Mari just happened to point out. Ayano stuck her tongue out at her in return. "I'll cut that tongue off."

"But then I can't pleasure Itachi," Ayano whined, inwardly laughing her ass of at Mari's reaction, which consisted of her face going beat red, then purple in anger, and then the most personally-offended expression she had ever seen.

"**_WHAT!!!??_**" she screeched, attracting the attention of a few people on the street. Ayano laughed openly, clutching her side.

"I'm joking," she gasped out between laughs.

"You better be," Mari seethed. "Because if he even _touched_ you, so help me-"

"But we're getting _married_, Mom," she interrupted. This was going _perfectly._ "And he's the heir to the clan. He's going to be doing more than _touching_ me." The grin she was trying to mask forced it's way through to her face.

"Not if he wants to stay male," Mari growled.

"Um..."

Ayano's head snapped so quickly in the direction the voice came from she nearly got whiplash.

At least she had the decency to blush before collapsing in a heap of laughter and giggles.

"Hi-'snicker'-Itachi," she forced out, before laughing again. Mari had a look of horror on her face, and Itachi had a noticable blush.

"My mother saw you two arguing outside and wanted me to see if everything was alright?" The statement came out as a question, and he obviously looked ready to bolt.

"We're fine," Ayano snickered. Mari still hadn't spoken, and Itachi unwillingly turned to her.

"I assure you, Mari-san," he began stiffly. "That I have never and have no plans to do anything to your daughter," he promised, obviously not comfortable.

"I'm very sorry, Itachi-san, I didn't mean-" Itachi held his hands up.

"Let's just not talk about this, and not tell my parents seeing as it's a bit inappropriate," he suggested. Mari sighed in relief. "Just...please let's go in the house before my mother suspects something?"

"Of, course," Mari agreed instantly, obviously embarrassed. Ayano was still on the ground, stifling her giggles with a hand pressed to her mouth. Mari walked ahead, Ayano thought so that she wouldn't seem like a suspicious parent and prove what she meant earlier.

When Mari was gone, Itachi turned to Ayano.

"_Really_?" he asked, with an eyebrow raised. "Was that _absolutely necessary_?"

"Hey, it was going fine till you showed up," Ayano defended. "I was so close to getting my mom to hate you, too..." Itachi stiffened.

"We might as well give up," he sighed. "My-"

"_Excuse_ me!?" He glared at her.

"Didn't we agree to not interrupt each other?" he deadpanned. Ayano frowned and stayed silent. "_As _I was saying, my mother somehow got my father into this, too, so we're basically screwed." She scowled.

"Is he that stubborn?" she mumbled. He sighed.

"As a mule, an has the attitude of one, too." Ayano blinked and then grinned, getting it. She stood up, dusting herself off and remembering she had the delivery. She held it out to Itachi.

"It's from Uruchi," she told him. "She says 'Happy Birthday, sorry we couldn't come but we had too much work to do'. Which basically means that I'm gonna have a lot of deliveries tomorrow, so if our parents manage to come up with some unexpected-but-expected excuse to get us to see each other, then too bad." He took the bag and opened the box, looking at it.

"Tell them I said thank you," he replied. "And that their delivery girl is adequate enough at delivering orders without messing them up." She glared at him.

"Exactly, _'delivery girl_.' Not 'messenger girl.' You tell them yourself. And I'll remember that I'm 'adequate enough' at delivering the next time your mom orders pie." He ignored her, which of course only angered her more, and led her inside.

There were a small amount of people there compared to the amount Ayame Ichiraku would have at her parties, but Ayano preferred the limited number of people should she embarrass herself. There was herself, her mother, and Itachi, and then there was his brother and parents, and the boy she recognized as Shisui.

"Glad you could come," Mikoto was saying to Mari. "This is my nephew, by the way," he motioned to Shisui and said his name. He looked rather uncomfortable in the spotlight. She couldn't help but smirk at his expense, since he had tried to trick her the other night, and when she glanced at Itachi, saw he was smirking too.

Of course, they were shooed out into the backyard after they arrived, so the parents could talk, and Ayano and Itachi were told to keep an eye on Sasuke and Shisui, who of course protested at this but was shoved out the door by Itachi.

"Maybe you could gain some maturity, and then I won't be babysitting you, older cousin," Itachi pointed out, though he had a joking tone in his voice. Ayano snickered as she closed the door behind her. Shisui glared at both of them.

"Oh, ganging up on me, huh?" he asked, before and evil smirk made it's way to his face. "I'll be sure to remember that next time you two are hiding and 'pleasuring' each other while the parents are in the next room." He smirked pointedly at Ayano, who blushed an ungodly shade of red, while Itachi growled at him. She had no clue how he did that, but it was cool and scary at the same time.

"Hold him down, and I beat him with a stick?" Ayano suggested, willing away the blush and looking at Itachi.

"Why, of course," he instantly agreed. Shisui's face immediately paled.

"Oh, come on, I was joking!" he objected.

"Shisui," Itachi growled out. "...you're annoying."

"Looks like we finally agree on something," Ayano noted. Itachi snickered before diving after Shisui.

* * *

**Woot! Maybe they don't entirely hate each other now :D **

**Review and you get a hug from Gaara dressed up in a panda suit.**

**Oh, and about the stubborn as a mule comment, if you didn't get it, Itachi basically called his Dad an ass.  
**


	6. Chapter 6

**I do not own Naruto**~

* * *

Okay, so the dinner had gone better than she expected. After a while Itachi's dad had excused himself, and that relieved nearly all of the tension in the air. Sasuke kept trying to get Ayano's attention, which she found amusing, but apparently Itachi thought it was even funnier for some reason she didn't bother to ask about. Shisui didn't tease them anymore and actually seemed to be trying to get on Ayano's good side, which made her laugh again.

After a while Sasuke started complaining he was hungry, so they took that as a reason to finally go inside. Seeing as how there were no dishes on the table yet, they just went to the living room.

"Be right back, I'm gonna go ask my Mom something," Ayano told them. She got up and walked in the direction of the kitchen, where she was pretty sure her Mom was.

The house was the largest in the compound and looked like rich people lived in it, but on the inside it looked like any normal house. There weren't any expensive paintings or anything like that, and she even saw family photos on the wall or sitting on a table.

She found the kitchen and was about to walk in before she got wind of the conversation her mother and Mikoto were having.

"...knowing Ayano, she's only going to get upset about it..." her mother said in a hushed voice. Ayano frowned, and pressed herself to the wall beside the doorframe, keeping her ears open.

"You don't know that," Mikoto soothed. "Since she's an only child, she should be thrilled about it." Ayano frowned again. What were they talking about?

A tap on her shoulder made her gasp, albeit quietly. She turned around to see Itachi looking at her with a raised eyebrow. She put her fingers to her lips and glared at him. His eyebrow rose higher, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he pressed himself to the wall as well.

The mothers hadn't heard them.

"You don't understand. She's angry beyond words at her father." Ayano suddenly frowned, and Itachi looked at her in question. "She might hate him even more when she finds out he left a baby for us to care for when we are almost broke."

Wait...

What!?

She gasped, and her knees almost gave out. Hands grabbed her before she could hit the ground and pulled her away from the kitchen.

"She's pregnant!" Ayano gasped out when they were far enough. "I can't believe it! But, the weird sleeping hours and eating habits and mood swings, _oh." Her mother was pregnant. _And they were barely able to even keep the house they were in.

Itachi was quiet, not entirely sure how to react.

"Congratulations?" he asked. Ayano was just standing there, her mouth wide. His eyebrows knitted together. "Younger siblings aren't that bad," he told her. "Sure, they might be clingy sometimes, but that's just because they want to be like you. If anything, I feel kind of honored when Sasuke wants to spend time with me."

She tried to picture it. Her, holding a little baby boy or girl, with a smile dazzling it's face. Teaching them how to draw or ride a bike, taking them to school.

A smile lit up her face.

"I'm going to be a big sister..." she whispered. At the sound of it, she grinned more. "I'm going to be a sister!" Itachi clapped a hand over her mouth, but was smiling.

"You'll let them know we heard them," he told her. "Come on, we'll go back to the others. Let your Mom tell you when she wants to." She nodded, but was still smiling. Then she frowned.

"Et'ur an ff ore m unna ai oo," she told him, her voice muffled. He moved his hand.

"What?"

"I said 'Get your hand off or I'm gonna bite you,'" she giggled. "Come on." She pranced to the living room, where Shisui was playing with Sasuke. He looked up at them when they walked in, then smirked.

"Why're you so happy?" he asked Ayano, then looked between her and Itachi.

"Be right back, I'ma go get that stick," she told Itachi.

"Sasuke, cover your eyes," Itachi told his younger brother, walking towards Shisui.

"I'm joking!" he exclaimed. "Mikoto! Itachi's trying to kill me!" Itachi paused.

"Itachi, don't kill your cousin," Mikoto shouted back without a care. Shisui looked offended and Itachi grinned. Ayano laughed.

"You have no allies!" she stated, pointing a mocking finger at him. He grinned.

"This means war! Quick, Sasuke, grab a weapon!" But the smallest Uchiha was already beside Ayano. "Oh, come on!"

"Mwahaha!" Ayano laughed evily. Sasuke mocked the laugh, causing Itachi to laugh. "By the way," Ayano started. "Happy-birthday, Weasel-face."

"Why thank you, delivery girl," he shot back. Ayano laughed instead of firing back another comment.

"Okay, dinner's ready!" Mikoto stated, walking into the room with a nervous looking Mari. Sasuke and Shisui were up immediately, heading towards the dining room. Ayano turned to walk and Shisui paused.

"Ladies, first," he said politely, gesturing towards the door. She smiled and walked through. Shisui didn't move and looked pointedly at Itachi, who narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"I know you aren't thinking what I think you're thinking," Itachi warned. Shisui merely grinned. Itachi kicked him through the door before following.

"Hey, it's not my fault you won't cut your hair."

"Stop bickering before I put you both in timeout," Mikoto scolded lightly.

"But I'm fifteen!" Shisui protested.

"Maybe you should act like it," Itachi and Mikoto said at the same time. Sasuke was whining for Itachi to hurry up.

"You people hate me," Shisui groaned. Ayano patted him on the back.

"Don't worry, you haven't done anything horrible enough for me to hate you," she assured. He grinned at her.

"Who wants to sing the birthday song?" Mikoto asked suddenly, grinning at Itachi, who frowned.

"Don't push it."

**-xXx-**

The otherwise dim room was lit up by two candle flames that were positioned towards the front of the room. The air was damp and layered with nervousness and blood. It was rather crowded, but everyone made sure to give room to the Clan leader and the two who were the subject of the day's meeting. They whispered in hushed conversations, anxious to see what would happen.

"Itachi, Shisui," a man barked. He was the head of the clan, and the leader of the coup de' tat that was planned to go into effect not even half a year from now.

The two teens stepped up in front of the leader, in front of the clan's watchful eyes.

"Father," Itachi acknowledged, bowing his head. Shisui didn't speak, just bowed his head.

"Does the council suspect anything?" the man asked coldly. Anger flashed in Itachi's eyes, but it was fleeting and went unnoticed. Shisui's eyes narrowed.

"They do not," Itachi replied.

"When will they have the Hokage away on the treaty mission?" The Hokage was going to attempt to get an explanation for the kidnapping attempt made on a Hyuuga.

"Five months from now." Lie. Fugaku narrowed his eyes.

"And you're sure of this?" Itachi looked down.

"I heard it from the higher ups myself, but I can't be positive. They didn't know I was listening in on them and there wasn't anyone else, so there was no need for them to talk in code." Fugaku turned to Shisui.

"You're slipping, Itachi," he stated. Itachi scowled. "Shisui, since you were inducted into ANBU as well, you'll also get information." Shisui looked up sharply.

"But I can't-"

"Don't go against orders!" Fugaku barked. "If we do not have enough information, we could be ambushed, and things would go out of control." He glared at him and looked at one of the police officers. "Innocent people would get hurt, like your sister." He gestured to the four year old cowering behind the leg of the officer, staring at Shisui with terrified eyes. The officer had an obviously painful grip on her arm, and her hand and wrist were turning pale. Shisui's eyes widened at his sister, and he turned to Fugaku with a glare, as did Itachi.

"You wouldn't dare!" Shisui yelled, his Sharingan spinning into existence.

"That's extremely pathetic," Itachi growled, his Sharingan having already been activated since the beginning of the meeting.

Fugaku was mocking.

"And you'd oppose me?" he asked sarcastically. Shisui rushed forward and grabbed Fugaku's collar, almost reaching his height. The officers in the room instantly had a threatening air around them.

"For her, yes," Shisui spit.

"Well then you'd get information for us. If you attack me, there are twenty other skilled ninja in here who would strike back." He looked around him, glaring at each of the officers.

"Shisui." Itachi grabbed his shoulder, noticing the tightening hold the officer had on Shisui's sister. Shisui glanced back at him and to his sister, then let go of Fugaku with a push, sighing.

As soon as he stepped down, several officers were around him, attacking.

"Shisui-nii!" the little girl screamed.

Almost as soon as they were there, the officers were beat back, and Itachi stood there with his katana unsheathed, glaring at all of them. Fugaku met his eyes with a glare. A few seconds passed, he broke the eye contact.

"Leave them be. Meeting adjourned."

Itachi didn't relax from his position as they filed out of the room, completely silent. Fugaku walked past without a word or glance. The officer nearest to them moved.

Itachi had his katana pointed at the man's throat in less than a second.

"Leave the girl," he ordered. The man glared defiantly, but cracked under the full weight of Itachi's glare. He pushed the girl towards them, and Shisui immediately enveloped her in his arms protectively. The man left. When Itachi felt the clan leave the temple he relaxed with a sigh and turned to Shisui.

"Is she okay?" he asked. The girl was huddled in her brother's arms, bawling. Shisui was trying to comfort her.

"She'll have a nasty bruise, but yea." He observed where the man had squeezed her arm. Itachi raised an eyebrow at him.

"Are _you_ okay?" Shisui had a busted lip that was bleeding rather badly, and a mark around his eyes that was already turning into a black eye. The older Uchiha grinned painfully up at him.

"I've had worse," he stated with a shrug. Itachi grimaced.

"Why do you smile when you're not happy?" he asked. Shisui shrugged again, tightening his hold on his sister.

"It's better to lie and make people happy than to have them worry over you."

* * *

**I never did like Fugaku 7:(**

**So! Shisui has been blackmailed into spying for the clan by them threatening his sister...bastards.  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**I do not own Naruto**~

* * *

Mari never got around to telling Ayano, even though her daughter was practically bouncing the rest of the night. She had been kind of confused when they left. Mikoto, Shisui, and Itachi had this look on their face like they knew something was going to happen when they left, and they couldn't stop it. Sasuke was as cheerful as they were pretending to be.

"Do you work tomorrow?" Mari asked as they walked into the house.

"Nope," she chirped, bounding after her mother. "We have seven orders due the next day, though." Mari rose an eyebrow at her.

"Don't overexert yourself," she told her. Ayano grinned.

"Never in a lifetime!" she stated happily. Her mother looked at her oddly.

"...What are you so happy about?" she asked curiously. Ayano giggled and turned to walk up the stairs.

"Oh, nothing," she sang. She deliberately walked slowly up the stairs.

"Um...Ayano?" She stopped immediately and looked down at her mother.

"Yes?" Mari opened her mouth, then shut it.

"Don't forget to wash your hair," she told her hesitantly. Ayano face fell a little.

"Got it."

* * *

Well, she was officially bored. Not having work, school, and it being summer vacation left a bunch of time to do absolutely _nothing._ Her mom was at work, and she had already finished the book she was working on. She contemplated walking to the bookstore, but she didn't have enough money and it was on the other side of the village.

So now she was laying on her couch, chewing the skewer that had previously held dango, and staring up at the ceiling. Nothing was on TV, of course, because they didn't have cable, and the only books her mom had were on cooking. If she had spared her painting set from the move, she would have messed with the acrylics and oils to see if she could make something interesting.

With a sigh, she heaved herself of the couch and decided that if she just went for a walk she could come up with something to do. She went to her room and threw on a change of clothes and clipped her bangs back so they wouldn't annoy her. She passed by the guest room and stopped beside it before peering into it, trying to imagine what it would look like as a nursery. White crib in the corner, a play mat on the ground, random baby toys laying around. Would the baby be a boy or girl? She grinned and went to put on her shoes. She didn't care, as long as it was healthy.

Just as she stood up and opened the door, she was greeted by a surprised Shisui, hand half-raised to knock.

"Shisui," she stated in surprise, then gasped. "What the hell happened to you!?" He looked like he had been beaten. His lip was busted, and there was a dark bruise around his eye. A bandage was wrapped around his forearm, where she guessed another wound was.

Shisui grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

"Mission," he explained. "A bandit caught me by surprise." She looked at his wounds again.

"You must have been surprised for a long time for him to have hit you that much," she stated. He mock-glared.

"Well, thanks," he said sarcastically, then grinned. She smiled in return.

"So what were you doing way over here on the edge of the compound?" she asked conversationally, leaning against the door frame.

"Itachi and I were going to spar, and I need someone to keep an eye on my sister. You wanna come?" She blinked.

"She's going, too?" she asked. He nodded. "Sure. I'm off today, and until school starts I'm going to be bored as hell." He grinned.

"Great. It's a date."

"Is it now?" she laughed. She closed the door behind her and locked it, then followed after Shisui. They walked to the back of the compound, where there was a gate and trees behind it.

"There's a clearing on the other side," Shisui stated. "Can you jump?" Ayano looked up at the towering fence.

"I think I'm a bit short," she admitted sarcastically. He grinned. "Is there another way around?"

"Way down that way," he pointed behind him. "But I'm already late. Itachi's going to be pissed." Ayano looked back up at the fence.

"Well then you go, and I'll just find the other way around." She turned around and walked about two steps before someone grabbed her wrist and she was picked up bridal style. "What!?" Shisui laughed and kneeled down slightly, like he was going to jump.

And then suddenly they were in the air, flying over the fence, and Shisui landed on his feet on the other side.

"_Never_," Ayano gasped. She kicked herself free. "_Ever_ do that again without warning me!" He laughed again.

"It was faster," he defended with a grin. She scowled at him.

"You scared the crap out of me!" He smirked and started walking through the trees. Ayano followed him with a scowl. After about a minute of walking they made it to a clearing, where Itachi was waiting and a small girl was plucking flowers.

"You're late," Itachi told them from the middle of the clearing.

"Sorry, I was going at civilian pace," Shisui called back with a grin.

"And is something wrong with civilian pace?" Ayano retorted putting her hands on her hips and looking at him.

"Oh, nothing, just that my great-grandma could walk faster."

"Well we all can't be ninjas," she defended with a huff. Shisui grinned and waved the small girl over.

"Hiyuki, this is Ayano," Shisui told the girl. She looked to be about four. "Ayano, Hiyuki." Red snow. She couldn't help but think it sounded morbid.

The girl fidgeted but smiled a shy smile at her. Ayano smiled back.

"I have a mission in three hours," Itachi reminded Shisui.

"Yea, yea," Shisui called back. he turned to Ayano. "Have you ever seen shinobi spar?" She shook her head. He grinned. "Well then you're about to. Watch me kick Itachi's ass," he snickered.

"Like that could ever happen," Itachi called over, having heard them. Ayano laughed and Shisui jogged off towards Itachi. Ayano sat down beside Hiyuki, who was picking those tiny white flowers there are everywhere in a field

"Shisui-nii's really good," she stated proudly, looking at her brother. "But Itachi-nii is better. Shisui-nii is still good though." Ayano smiled at her.

"Who do you think is gonna win?" Ayano asked the girl. Hiyuki sat down and watched them.

"Itachi-nii," she replied instantly. "Shisui-nii isn't as serious about it as Itachi-nii is."

"Is that so..." Ayano mused. She looked at the two standing in the clearing, about ten feet apart from each other.

And then suddenly Shisui was behind Itachi, and Ayano blinked in surprise. What the hell was that!? Shisui moved to punch Itachi, but the younger seemed to knew what Shisui was doing and blocked it in time before throwing his elbow into Shisui's stomach. Ayano winced.

"Shisui-nii told me that people call him 'Shisui of the Body Flicker,'" Hiyuki said. "I don't know what that means, but I guess it's what that weird disappear and appear thing is. I've seen Itachi-nii do it before, but he doesn't do it as much as Shisui-nii." As Itachi turned and was about to throw a punch, Shisui disappeared again and appeared ten feet away from him again, taking something out of a punch he had strapped to his leg. He seemed to swipe his arm or something, and she managed to get a small glimpse of some sort of projectile he had thrown towards Itachi. Itachi reached into his pouch and withdrew what seemed like a metal toothpick and threw one at the five or so heading towards him. There seemed to be a domino effect as the one he threw knocked one of it's course, which knocked the others of their course. And this was happening so fast Ayano could barely tell what was going on.

"Do you know what's happening?" she asked Hiyuki, who scrunched up her face and shook her head.

"I can only tell whose winning because Shisui-nii sometime says bad words when he messes up." Ayano had to crack a smile at that.

The fight seemed to be moving towards the trees on the other side of the field, and Ayano could make out Shisui trying to push Itachi back. Shisui flickered behind Itachi again, and Itachi grabbed the punch that was aimed his way and flipped his cousin. Shisui placed his hands on the ground for balance and kicked upwards, making Itachi jump back. When they disappeared into the trees, Ayano let out a breath.

"Wow," she breathed.

"Did Shisui-nii win?" Hiyuki asked, peering into the woods. The sounds of fighting reached Ayano's ears.

"They're still fighting," she told her. "I have the feeling the won't be done for a while." Hiyuki nodded her head in agreement and went back to picking the tiny white flowers. Ayano sat on her knees and started plucking flowers as well, waiting for Itachi and Shisui to get back.

"What's your favorite flower?" she asked conversationally.

"I like the purple ones," Hiyuki stated, picking said purple flowers and showing it to Ayano. "What is your favorite?"

"I think mine is a spider lily," she admitted. "But I don't think they grow in this season."

"What's a spider lily look like?" Hiyuki asked.

"It's the red flowers that have the petals in the middle and the stringy things on the outside," she told her.

"Oh, my Mommy had some in her garden."

"Hiyuki?" The new voice made Ayano turn around in surprise to see a man standing there. He was an Uchiha, she could tell from the fan adorning his shirt. She looked at Hiyuki to see if she knew the man, but found her almost hiding behind her.

"Can I help you?" Ayano asked politely, standing up. The man narrowed his eyes at her slightly. It was almost unnoticeable, but she caught it.

"I'm Hiyuki's uncle," the man introduced. "I'm here to pick her up." Ayano looked back at Hiyuki, who was now cowering behind her.

"Shisui will be back soon," Ayano told the man, suspicious. She moved Hiyuki more behind her.

"You see," the man laughed. "I'm running a bit late, so I'm afraid I don't have time to wait for my nephew." Ayano was persistent.

"But Shisui would be worried if he didn't see you off and his sister just disappeared." The man pressed his lips together.

"I'm sorry, but I really don't have the time." He looked around Ayano. "Come on, Hiyuki."

She didn't move. He glared slightly.

"Hiyuki, if you disobey me then I'll have to tell you're mother," he warned.

Ayano moved herself between Hiyuki and the man.

"She doesn't want to go with you," she told him with a slight glare.

"You don't have any say over what my family does or doesn't want," the man hissed. Hiyuki pressed herself against Ayano's back.

"He's mean, Aya-nee," Hiyuki whimpered. "He hurt me." Ayano widened her eyes and turned slightly to look at the girl.

"Where did he hurt you?" she asked. Hiyuki sniffed, she looked about ready to cry, and pulled up the sleeve on her arm, where a dark blue and purple bruise was wrapped around her entire forearm, about the size of a hand. Ayano turned around to glare at the man.

"How dare you!" she exclaimed. "She's just a little girl!"

"I can punish my children however I feel like," the man barked. "Give her to me."

"No," Ayano spit. The man glared vehemently at her and started walking towards her. Ayano held her ground and kept Hiyuki behind her. The man raised his fist and Ayano glared.

Then, in a flash, Shisui was in front of her, punching the man away. He continued to beat the man back as Itachi stood in front of Ayano.

"Stay away from her," Shisui hissed.

"Both of them," Itachi added in a growl. The man glared.

"I'll report you for this," he hissed, holding his mouth where Shisui just punched him.

"Go ahead," Shisui retorted. "Stay away from my sister." The man stood up and looked ready to retort, but when Shisui drew a kunai he stopped.

"You'll regret this," he growled, then left through the trees. Ayano let out a breath she had been holding.

"Who was that?" she asked. Shisui made his way to his sister.

"Ignore it," Itachi told her. "It's too complicated."

"How can I ignore it?" Ayano shot back. "He hurt her!"

"It's none of your business," Itachi stated harshly. "Stay out of it." Ayano scowled.

"When a child is freaking hurt by someone and no one's doing anything about it, I take it upon myself to _make_ it my business!"

"You have nothing to do with it, and it's going to stay that way," he told her with a glare.

"This is child abuse! Someone should call the police!"

"We _are_ the police," Shisui interrupted. His voice was warmer than Itachi's, but it was still pretty cold. "And I would appreciate it if you don't stick your nose into anything." She looked at him with shock. "Trust me, it's for your own good." She glared at them.

"If I see _one_ more mark on her that I didn't see today, I'm going to do whatever the hell I feel like to make sure it never happens again," she growled. "This is not _right._"

"We know," Shisui replied calmly. It infuriated her how he could be so placid. "And trust me, she won't get hurt again. I'll kill anyone who tries." He paused suddenly, and Itachi whipped his head around towards the trees in the distance. She looked at the trees herself, confused as to why they were acting like that. She scanned the treeline, not seeing anything.

A cold feeling filled the air, and her joints locked in place. Every nerve in Ayano's body was screaming _run, run, run!!_ She was terrified. Something was over there that was completely filled with menace.

It wanted to attack her. Kill her.

"Go home, Ayano," Itachi told her. She was rooted to the spot, staring in the direction the aura was coming from. "Go _home_." Her eyes slid to the girl standing beside Shisui, completely oblivious to whatever it is that made her want to bolt. Hiyuki was looking around at the older Uchihas around them, confused about why they were acting so strangely. Shisui was standing protectively beside her, with a hard glint in his eye, and Ayano knew that he would protect the girl with his life. "Ayano!" Itachi barked. His suddenly loud voice snapped her out of it, and she backed up. His aura was almost as menacing as the other, and it was scaring her. She didn't want to turn around, to put her back to it. She felt like if she did it would attack her that very second.

Itachi put himself between her and the threatening thing, and he turned to look at it. She turned around and ran for her life. She heard someone talking that didn't sound like Itachi, Shisui, or Hiyuki, but figured she imagined it.

"Don't forget, Shisui," she could have sworn she heard. "You better have something by the end of the week."

She kept running, and managed to find a small hole in the fence she could just barely fit through. She ignored the curious eyes on the street and didn't stop till she made it to her house, where she unlocked the door with shaking fingers and ran to her room. She cowered on her bed, unable to control her shaking, and her breath came out in uneven. It felt so damn _evil_. It scared her. Tears appeared in the corners of her eyes. And for the first time, she was scared of her clan.

* * *

She saw them fight. She knew that they could attack her with half the power of what they used in the field, and she would probably be killed. When she saw them fight, though, she was thinking that they would never turn on her and attack her. But when she felt Itachi's aura turn just as menacing as the one hidden in the trees on the other side of the field, she knew that if she just got them too angry or something, that darkness would be directed towards her, and she _could_ be killed.

She had done everything she could to avoid the subject of what happened in the clearing. Since her mother got home, she had been worried about Ayano because her daughter would jump at the tiniest thing.

"What happened?" Mari asked for maybe the twelfth time.

"I just saw a scary show in TV," Ayano lied. "It creeped me out." Mari frowned.

"Don't watch scary shows, then," she told her.

"I don't plan on it," Ayano replied with a shaky laugh. She hadn't been able to calm down at all. She could tell she was worrying her mother, but she didn't want to tell anybody what happened.

A knock on the door made her jump about ten feet, and her heart started beating twice as fast.

"Can you get that?" her mother called from the kitchen.

"Y-yea," Ayano called back. Feeling shaky, she made her way to the door, trying not to think about what could be on the other side.

She had been expecting the man from earlier, so she was surprised when she saw Hiyuki standing before her, holding a spider lily. The girl beamed up at her.

"I wanted to thank Aya-nee for helping me today," she stated cheerfully, holding up the flower. Ayano, still shocked, took the flower. She looked up to see Itachi and Shisui standing on the other side of the street with expressionless masks on. Shisui made a motion for her to 'come here.' Ayano met Itachi's gaze and she shrank back, causing his brow to furrow in confusion.

"Th-thank you," she told Hiyuki, looking back down at her and forcing a smile on her face. Hiyuki smiled up at her and pranced back to her brother. Ayano looked back up at the two boys and turned away, quickly.

"Ayano-" she heard Shisui start to say, but she had shut the door. She didn't want to see them, because, honestly, she was scared of them.

* * *

**So, I am a little disappointed that Sakura still didn't kill Sasuke, but I'm proud of her for trying xD I still think he needs to be maimed or something...I guess going blind is good enough though 7:D**

**Review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I do not own Naruto**~

* * *

Shisui and Itachi had actually tried contacting her, and she had managed to avoid them for around four days. Whenever someone would knock on the door, she would instantly dash into the bathroom and claim she was taking a shower, and when Mari would tell her that it had been Itachi or Shisui, Ayano would just smile and say she'd go see them the next day.

At work she had been trying to get in and out of the compound as fast as she could, ducking into alleyways and hiding behind buildings if she saw anyone that looked remotely similar to the two boys. She was glad she had several orders to deliver today, as it gave her a reason to be out of the compound so much.

"Uruchi-san," Ayano called to the back as she walked back into the store. "The Nara's have another order they're placing for tomorrow, the same thing as today."

"The imagawayaki?" Teyaki asked as he walked into the front of the shop.

"Yup." Ayano placed the slip in the basket on the counter and gave Teyaki the money. "Here's their payment." He took it and put it in the register.

"How many deliveries do you have left?" Ayano picked up a clipboard on the counter.

"Three," she stated. She blinked. "Hokage-sama ordered something?" Her voice was disbelieving. Teyaki chuckled.

"We're more popular than you know, dear," Uruchi told her as she walked to the front of the store, wiping her hands on her apron. "Deliver the Suzu's order first, though, because we just finished the Hokage's."

"Kay," Ayano chirped as she tore a slip from the small book on the counter for the customer to sign. "Be back in a bit." She ran out the door and set a fast pace to the entrance of the compound. She was extremely tired, but she didn't want to risk seeing Itachi or Shisui. In the back of her mind she wondered how long she would have to keep this up for. The gaurds let her pass without checking her, seeing as how she had been in and out of the compound nearly eight times, and they didn't bother with her anymore. When she was a block away, she let herself relax more and slowed her pace. She was safe enough. It was around maybe five, and people getting of work were walking down the streets, and kids were out playing in front yards.

"There should be a shortcut through here..." she murmured, stopping at a quiet street. She half turned to walk down it, but for some reason she just froze.

Her blood pounding was audible to herself, and she felt her body go cold. She didn't want to go down there.

Blinking in surprise, she shook her head. There was nothing wrong with that street. It had houses lining it, like any other street, and it's not like it was dark or anything.

But it would be soon, and she knew her mother would be upset if she got home too late. She gulped. Why was this road scaring her so much? She took another step, and then another. Walking down the street, she was completely tense, and found herself holding her breath. Her eyes shifted over the buildings to the side of her.

And then there it was.

She froze in her tracks, eyes flying wide open and her flesh instantly being covered by goosebumps. A shiver went up her spine, but she did not dare move.

That same evil thing that had been following her since she last saw Itachi.

She should have known. She had felt it six times in the last four days, and it had been getting worse. She should have known to stay away from deserted areas. At first it was just this nagging in the back of her head that she was being watched by something, and then it steadily got worse. It began _stalking _her. She would feel it gliding behind her on an entire route home, resisting the urge to just bolt.

But it had never been this bad. Not since what happened in the clearing.

Her breathing escalated, and she was scared to turn around. But she found herself peeking over her shoulder anyways.

The only thing behind her was the road she had walked on. It scared her even more, knowing that something was there and not being able to see it.

There was nothing there. It's just her imagination.

_Rustle_.

**_RUN!_**

The word exploded in her mind, and she felt herself running at a speed she never had before, fueled by adrenaline pulsing through her, turning the corner so fast she almost fell**_._** She didn't stop until she was at the destination she had hoped for, panting and shaking uncontrollably.

The thing wasn't there anymore. She could barely catch her breath, and her senses were picking up on everything going around her. It took her twenty minutes to just get her breathing under control, and after that she knew she was still shaking. She tried to control herself and knocked on the door. A man answered, looking at her oddly.

"Delivery," she stated, holding up the bag. He took it and signed the slip.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, frowning, as he handed back the slip. She attempted a weak smile, but was sure it came out a grimace.

"Something just scared me, it's okay," she said. He frowned more.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" he pressed. She nodded, and turned to walk off before he suggested anything. "Take the more populated streets home, it's getting late," the man called after her. She called back a thanks. She planned to anyways. She began a jog back to the compound. She didn't feel anything stalking her this time.

As she was running through the compound gates, where she noticed there were no guards stationed, she ran right into someone walking out. She felt herself fall and braced herself for impact, but it never came. She opened her eyes and looked up at the person who caught her.

Perfect. Fate liked to play games with her, didn't she?

"Ayano?" Itachi asked, standing her up straight. He looked surprised. "What are you doing?" She was all too grateful when he let go of her.

"I just got back from a delivery," she said quickly. She darted past him, trying to get away.

"Wait," he called. "You're shaking. What happened?"

"Sorry, I have more orders I have to deliver and-"

"Stop running from me!" Itachi told her, grabbing her arm and pulling her back. She flinched at the contact, and he stared down at where he held her. "...You're scared of me, aren't you?" She shrank a little, and averted her eyes. He was silent for a while.

He let her go.

"Fine," he said, completely emotionless. "I won't bother you anymore." He continued walking out of the compound, and she felt a pang in her chest. When he was out of sight, she turned back around and raced back to the bakery. Unluckily for her, Uruchi was waiting in the front room.

"Ayano?" she asked when the girl sped in. "What happened?" Alarm filled her voice.

"I think I'm sick," Ayano lied. She put the slip on the counter.

"Lord, are you breathing alright?" Uruchi placed a and over her forehead, which Ayano moved away from.

"I just think I'm sick," she repeated. Uruchi frowned.

"Well, go home and get some rest. Teyaki will take care of the rest of your deliveries, okay?" As much as she didn't want to, Ayano nodded, and walked out the door. She tried to calm herself in the slightest bit before her mother saw her, but any noise she heard made her tense up again. It was almost dark, now, and she sped up her pace.

"I'm home," she called as she opened the door. Silence greeted her. "Mom?" She walked to the kitchen. A small note was placed on the table and her eyes scanned over it.

_Went to the store real quick to stock up on dango. ;) Be back soon! -Mom_

Ayano sighed in relief. This gave her more time to try and calm down. But it also ade her more paranoid, to know she was the only one in the house. She went through the hallways, leaving on all the lights, and took a nice, hot shower.

The running water over her skin soothed her clenched muscles, and she decided when she got out that she might as well go to bed early. She didn't want to think about what happened that day, and she saw sleep as the easiest way out of it. She threw on her most comfortable clothes and slipped under her covers, turning only her bedroom light and hall light off, with the bathroom light on. It was enough light to see in, but dark enough to sleep in. She snuggled deep in the bed, sighing, as her fevered face, still red from the boiling hot shower, pressed against her cool pillow.

She let her mind go blank, just concentrating on stopped the sporadic twitching in her muscles, listening to the lullaby of the cicadas.

But she couldn't sleep. Something was just bothering her in the back of her mind, but she couldn't tell what. She figured it was Itachi, the look on his face when he realized she was scared of him. She felt a slight pang of guilt, and rolled over, towards the window, burying herself in the comforters. She couldn't help that she was scared of him, but part of her didn't want to be. She wondered if Shisui ever felt threatened by him, which then lead her to start thinking about Hiyuki, and wondering if she was okay.

**_Scratch._**

!!!**_  
_**

Her eyes flew open, and she did what any kid did at night, not move a muscle, not even their eyes, until the heard the noise again to reaffirm the first and convince them it was real. She stopped breathing, keeping her ears wide open. The sound of cicada reached her ears, but she heard nothing for a while.

_**Scratch.**_

Her breath sped up and she breathed through her mouth to minimise the noise as she slid her gaze to the window.

_**Scratch.**_

Her eyes widened more, if that were possible, and tears of horror filled her eyes.

The black figure haunched in the window sill stared at her, unmoving. She started hyperventilating.

_It was in her room._

_**Scratch.**_

In her house.

With no one else, completely defenseless.

_It had followed her.  
_

_**Scratch!**  
_

It looked unnatural, the way it sat. For some reason, even in the dark, she could make out it's face. A mischievous imp grinned back at her.

It new she was awake. She whimpered.

_Oh, God, it had red eyes._

_**SCRATCH.**  
_

The evil aura exploded around her, pressing againt her skull, suffocating her, and she let a a blood curdling scream that clawed the insides of her ears out. She pushed herself away from the figure, falling off the bed, and her head hit the floor with a resounding crack, making her see spots. Her throat was raw. She hadn't stopped screaming.

"Ayano!?!" Mari yelled, storming in the room, seeing her daughter hunched in the corner. The lights blared on, blinding Ayano, but she still continued to scream, pointing at the open window. "What happened!? Ayano!"

"The window!!" Ayano gasped, tears now falling freely down her face. "Something was in it!!" Mari rushed to her daughter, gathering her up in her arms and holding her to her chest, her hand petting Ayano's hair.

"It's alright, it's alright," Mari tried to soothe her daughter. "It was just a dream-- _Oh, God._" Ayano looked up in alarm at her mother, who was staring at her hand in shock. A drip of blood ran down it, and Ayano's mind was screaming that her mother got hurt, but then a sudden pounding in her head made her forget. "What happened!?"

"Something was in the window," Ayano whimpered. Mari snagged a random shirt from the floor and pressed it to the back of her daughter's head. "It had red eyes and it was so _evil_ and I had the window closed and locked!" Mari looked up from her hysteric daughter to the window, which was wide open. Her eyes widened and her face paled even more. She reached up behind Ayano to the dresser, which had a phone sitting on it. She shakily grabbed it and dialed the numbers, leaving blood on the buttons she pressed. She clutched in to her ear, her free hand rubbing Ayano's arm.

"Hello, police?" she asked, her voice trembling. "Someone broke into my house."

* * *

They were standing in the living room, and the police were questioning Mari and Ayano, who was sitting on the couch with a blanket draped around her shaking form.

"And you say this thing has been following you for four days?" a police officer questioned. Ayano nodded.

"Oh, baby," Mari sighed. "Why didn't you tell me?" Ayano kept quiet.

What's going on?" a loud voice boomed throughout the house, and Ayano barely recognized it.

"There was a breaking and entering, sir," one of the officers informed, clasping his fist over his chest in a salute. Fugaku walked into the living room and saw Ayano and Mari. His eyes barely passed over the mother, but he seemed to be scanning Ayano's face for something.

Ayano's eyes widened when she saw Itachi step out from behind Fugaku, his eyes immediately going to her own.

"Did you get a glimpse of what he looked like?" Fugaku asked Ayano directly. Ayano lifted her face.

"B-black clothes," she stuttered. "He had a mask on, I think. Red eyes." Every person in the room except for the owner's of the house narrowed their eyes at the mention of 'red eyes.'

"Do you know what the mask looked like?" he asked.

Ayano noticed Itachi shooting glares at his father that were absolutely terrifying.

"A monkey or something," Ayano muttered. "It was grinning." Fugaku looked skeptical.

"And you're sure you didn't open the window yourself? That it was a dream?"

Mari scowled. He didn't believe her.

"Fugaku-san," she came to her daughter's defense. "The windows have been nailed shut since we moved here, as well as locked, and we haven't bothered to open them."

"Alright," he said with a sigh. He looked angry. "We'll investigate in the morning. I suppose you'll need a place to stay?" Mari felt offended when she saw that they couldn't care less about what had happened, but bit her tongue.

"You can stay at our house," Itachi stepped in. Every person in the room looked at him with surprise. Fugaku shot his son a look, which was returned with another glare.

"Alright," Fugaku sighed. "My wife would be happy if you did. We'll have someone keep a watch on your house. Go get some clothes and anything necessary." Mari pulled her daughter up and went upstairs.

"Where did they break in at?" Ayano heard Itachi ask as they were walking up the stairs.

"Come on, honey," Mari whispered, tugging her daughter along. Ayano went to her room and grabbed a set of clothes and a toothbrush while her mother waited at the door.

"Excuse me?" a boy's voice asked. Mari turned her head to look at Itachi.

"Oh, Itachi-san," he breathed. "What is it?"

"He broke in through the window, right?" he asked. Mari nodded, and moved so he could get through. His eyes passed over Ayano and landed on the window, and he walked over to it.

The nails that had been in it had been forcefully pulled out, and it was messy, too. Itachi had more proof that it had not been ANBU, like the description had said, and then there's the fact that the only ones who were in ANBU with Sharingan were Shisui, himself, and Hatake Kakashi, but none of their masks matched the description.

Oh, he knew he was going to be hearing about this tomorrow. He'll be told to exterminate the ANBU impostor.

"The way you describe the person," he began, directing it at Ayano, "it sounds like it was ANBU. But the way he broke it was too messy, so it was someone impersonating an ANBU operative. And there are only three with Sharingan, but none of them have imp masks." Mari nodded. She had heard of Sharingan from her grandfather. Itachi turned back around and began walking out. He didn't want to tell them that it was someone from the clan, seeing as how they would leave the compound and be in more danger. "If someone were following you, though, they wouldn't dare break into my house, so you'll be safe there. We'll leave when you're ready." He left, and Ayano went with her Mom to get her mother some clothes, and she threw all of the clothes in a shoulder bag.

Ayano was still having trouble getting her shoes on, seeing as how she couldn't stop shaking. After a few tries she got it, and they were walking to Itachi's house, with the police staying behind the clean up any mess they made.

Ayano kept her ears open for anything.

She felt it after about ten minutes of walking.

It was following her again. It wasn't completely terrifying this time, instead it actually felt wary. She took a deep breath.

Don't let it know you know it's there, she thought to herself. It usually gets worse after I react to it. Fugaku and Itachi were walking in front of them, and Mari was about two steps ahead of her. She pressed her lips together. What should she do?

"Fugaku-san," she called. He stopped and looked at her. She had a slightly distressed look to her face. "It's here again." Itachi stopped and blinked, then looked up over her head, towards one of the buildings.

And then he disappeared.

There were some sounds of a fight behind her, and she turned around to see Itachi drop down and throw a form onto the ground. Fugaku walked over to it and kicked it on it's back. A mischievous imp grinned up at the sky, not matching the groans of pain coming from the person.

"That was faster than I expected," Fugaku said in surprise. "Take him to the jailhouse," he told Itachi, who carelessly picked up the man and disappeared. "Itachi will take care of the rest. You two need to get some sleep." Mari was now holding on to her daughter as they walked and Mikoto was standing at the door, looking surprised.

"What happened?" she asked in alarm.

"Someone broke into their house," Fugaku sighed. "They're staying here for the night. Itachi found the criminal and is taking care of him." Mikoto's eyes widened in shock.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" she asked, looking at the two behind him.

"Ayano hit her head and she's bleeding," Mari told her with a grimace.

"It stopped, though," Ayano mumbled. Mikoto ignored her husband and went to check Ayano's head.

"I can heal it over, but she can wash the blood off here," she said. Mari's brow pulled togther in confusion. "I know a little medical jutsu. Just the basics." Mari nodded, and Mikoto led them inside to the living room.

"Kaa-san?" Sasuke asked sleepily from upstairs. "What's going on?"

"It's nothing, sweety, go back to bed," Mikoto called back up. She sat Ayano down on the couch and the younger Uchiha bent her head and an uncomfortable angle so Mikoto could see it. "Oh, it's not too bad," Mikoto told her. "Just a small wound." She felt Mikoto's hands hover over her head, and she saw a faint green light reflect off her lap.

Mikoto's aura exploded in her head, much like it had with the stalker, but this time it wasn't unpleasant. It felt like someone was putting a damp cloth over her head. It was way too close, and she immediately yanked herself away.

"Ayano?" Mikoto asked. Fugaku was observing her reaction closely, for some reason. Ayano had one hand over where she hit her head.

"I think I'll just let it heal by itself," she said quickly. Mikoto blinked in confusion.

"If that's what you want," she shrugged. "You know where the bathroom is, right?" Ayano nodded. "I'll let you take a shower, and I'll get you some pain reliever, kay?" She smiled, and Ayano offered a weak smile back and left to wash the blood out of her hair. It only took about twenty minute, but she still had to try and untangle the dired-over tangles in her hair. When she walked out of the bathroom, new change of clothes, her mother was laying on one of the couches in the living room, talking with Mikoto. They stopped when Ayano walked in, so she knew it was about the baby.

The baby, Ayano thought. This whole thing hadn't made her mother overstressed, right? The baby was fine, right?

She knew she was overreacting, so she tried to quiet the thoughts.

"I hope you're fine with sleeping on the couches," Mikoto said, embarrassed. "We don't have a guest room."

"We're fine with it," Mari objected with a smile. "Thank you for letting us stay here." Ayano went and layed on the other open couch and tried to drown out their conversations. She was surprisingly tired. With a few goodnights, Mikoto left them to go to sleep, and Ayano heard the even breathing of her mother's sleeping before she could asleep herself.

The front door opened, and Ayano's breath caught without thinking, but she relaxed slightly when she saw it was just Itachi. He walked through the living room, pausing before he went up the stairs.

"Yes?" he asked Ayano, feeling her eyes on him. Ayano pressed her lips together.

"...sorry," Ayano whispered. He was quiet for a few seconds.

"What do you have to be sorry about?" he asked.

"I'm scared of you." He was quiet again.

"...You don't have to be sorry about that," he said quietly. "It would be bad if you weren't scared." She raised an eyebrow, and he apparently saw it. "I _can_ kill you. It's important that you know that." She let out a breath she didn't knew she had been holding. "But it's also important that you know I would never hurt you. I promise." Her gaze softened, but then she stared in the direction she thought he was in, raising an eyebrow, and heard him chuckle. "Of course it was kind of getting on my nerves, seeing you duck behind a trash can or building every time you got a glimpse of me." She rolled her eyes, but grinned. "Trust me, that guy's not going to go near you again."

* * *

**Wow, I'm updating fast, aren't I? Well, if I get more reviews, I'll update faster! How bout that? ;P**

**And this one was really long, wasn't it?  
**


	9. Chapter 9

**I do not own Naruto**~

* * *

They were in the underground room again, but this time it was not Itachi and Shisui who were the subject of the meeting. It was the newly arrested clan member who stood in front of Fugaku, his imp mask tied around his waist.

"I told you to _watch_ her," Fugaku hissed. "Not stalk her and break into her house. Do you know what the police force is going through to keep ANBU from getting their hands on you for impersonating them? I'm tempted to let my son kill you right now."

"Even if he didn't impersonate ANBU, I'd kill him anyways," Itachi stated in a hard voice, his glare piercing the man like a million daggers. He then directed his gaze to his father. "This is ridiculous, and frankly, stupid. A civilian wouldn't help us, even if she_ is_ extremely sensitive to chakra. We would lose more shinobi protecting her then finding the council ourselves. We have sensors, already."

"Yes, but we don't have time to wait around for our sensors to locate them," Fugaku stated, turning to his son. "We're better finding them in one try."

"What makes you think she'll help us, anyways?" Itachi fired back. "In case you haven't noticed, most of the entire clan doesn't like her, so she doesn't trust all of us." Fugaku smiled. It made Itachi's and Shisui's flesh crawl.

"She'll help us because you'll talk her into it," he stated. Itachi blinked in surprise. "She trusts you more than any of the other members. You'll convince her."

"_I will not_," Itachi hissed.

"Well then she's of no use to us," he sniffed, turning back to the imp mask man. "So we shouldn't have to deal with her taking up space." Itachi narrowed his eyes.

"What about Sasuke, then?" he challenged. "He can't help us. Are you going to kill him, too?" Fugaku glared.

"That's irrelevant."

"Oh, so you're just being a selective moron with a God-complex?" Fugaku glanced at an officer who had Hiyuki beside him, who was tugging away from him to try and go to her brother. He then looked pointedly at Shisui.

Shisui grabbed Itachi's shoulder and yanked him back, something that any other Uchiha wouldn't have even dreamt of doing.

"Sorry," Shisui muttered. Itachi just pressed his lips together and glared at his father. It wasn't his cousin's fault.

"Luckily ANBU doesn't know your name," Fugaku stated, turning back to the impostor. "Or the girl and her mother, for that matter. This time you're getting a warning, and I'm assigning someone else to watch her."

"You're letting him off with a _warning?_" Itachi stated, trying to gain better control of his emotions. He felt that his mask was breaking bit by bit every day, now, but had no clue why.

"We could still use him." Fugaku glanced at his son. "We're going to need all the shinobi we can get." Itachi said nothing and pressed his lips together again.

He would just have to kill him anyways.

* * *

Ayano opened the front door to her house.

"I'm off!" she shouted back to her mother.

"Be careful!" Mari replied. Ayano shut the door and set a pace for the clearing behind the fence she had been to before. She wasn't afraid of being stalked anymore, because the culprit was now behind bars, and she felt like a humongous weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

It was one of those summer days where there were only a few clouds in the sky, and the sun shone down brightly. The air was warm, but there were still cool breezes that made it feel even better. It was a perfect day to just lounge around outside. Uruchi had given her the day off when she heard what had happened, and Ayano was going to do something fun with it instead of what some other people would do, just sleep all day and not even think of going outside.

She walked along the back of the fence until she found a loose plank that had been thrown aside carelessly. She squeezed through it, making sure none of the snacks in her purse were damaged. She paused and peered into the forest. She was pretty sure that it was just a straight walk to the clearing, so she set on getting there. She had to walk quite a bit, and was about to give up and turn around, when she finally saw a break in the trees and hurried to it with a grin. She sighed when the sun hit her, letting her arms spread wide beside her. She looked around for a place to sit and noticed a figure laying down on the grass across the field, half under the shade of a tree. Curious, she walked towards it, and widened her eyes when she was close enough to recognize the person.

Itachi slept peacefully on the grass, his face shaded by the tree while he rest of his body was warmed by the sun.

It surprised her. Something was in his expression when he was asleep that wasn't there whenever he was awake. She realized that he actually looked content and relaxed, compared to how he was always trying to hide his emotions around anyone in public.

She sat beside him, staring at his face. She had never seen him so relaxed. The wind played with his hair around his face, blowing the silky locks lightly. His breath was slow and even, proving he was asleep. His arms were folded behind his head, acting as a pillow.

A leaf fluttered down and landed on his nose. His face twitched slightly, and she reached forward to move the leaf.

His hand was wrapped around her wrist, stopping her hand, and she looked up at his face in surprise to see him staring down at her through half-lidded eyes, his other arm still folded behind his head. With her wrist still in his grasp, his other hand picked up the leaf and her peered at it, as if mildly fascinated by it. He let it flutter away with the next breeze.

"What are you doing here?" he asked calmly, letting go of her wrist and returning to the position he was previously in.

"The weather's good today," she said, turning back forward and setting her purse down beside her. "I thought I'd relax in it for a bit." He 'hmm'ed, seeming perfectly fine with going back to sleep. She was silent, letting him.

"Shisui's trying to find you," he told her, which caused her to look at him. "He wants to thank you." He opened her eyes to watch her expression, and the corner of his mouth twitched when he saw her confused expression. "You defended his sister, even if you were about to get hurt."

"Oh," she replied. She looked back towards the field. "Anyone would've done it," she shrugged.

"Not anyone," Itachi replied, closing his eyes again. "The guy was a ninja. He was pretty weak, though, but he could have hurt you." He tensed up when he said this, she had no clue why, but she tried to lighten the mood so she could see that expression on his face again.

"Are you implying I'm weak?" she fired back, crossing her arms and pouting. He chuckled and relaxed.

"Not in the slightest." He then frowned slightly, opening his eyes to look at the branches above them.

"What?" Ayano asked. He sighed and shook his head.

"It's nothing. Work is just bothering me." She rose an eyebrow.

"Something bad happened?" she guessed. He sighed again.

"It's something they want me to do," he said, closing his eyes.

"If you don't want to do it, then don't do it," she shrugged.

"It's not that simple," he told her. "They want me to talk someone into doing something, but if I don't, then...nevermind." He rolled away from her, and she frowned. He was more depressed now than he was earlier. A sudden idea popped into her head, and she dug around in her purse for the tupperware.

"Dango?" she offered, pulling out two sticks and resisting the urge to laugh when his shoulders twitched. He rolled back over and sat up, with a small smile playing on his lips.

"Did you plan to have a picnic?" he asked, taking one of the sticks. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she replied. "And I just wanted to bring a few snacks, seeing as how I didn't know how long I was going to be. I'm glad I brought extra now." She grinned at him and he let out a huff of amusement before biting half of one of the dango, gazing out into the field. She smiled. He had that peaceful look in his eye now.

Which was suddenly replaced by a flicker of annoyance, which surprised her.

"Hello, cousin," he called out. Shisui walked out into the field, looking at Ayano in surprise.

Ayano couldn't help but feel a twinge of annoyance as well.

"There you are!" he exclaimed as he started making his way towards them. "Kami, you're a hard person to find. Sometimes I think you try to avoid me." She chuckled sheepishly.

"Well, that was the situation until about last night," she admitted. He stopped in the middle of the field and placed a hand over his heart in a mock pantomime.

"Oh, how you wound me," he half-sighed, half-yelled.

Ayano laughed.

"But I'm just a civilian, I can't hurt a fly, from the way you two talk about me."

He muttered something that sounded along the lines of 'you have no idea,' but she disregarded it. Itachi stiffened.

"I never got to thank you," he stated when he finally reached them, smiling down at Ayano. She smiled back.

"No problem," she replied, which made him scoff. "What, then, you're welcome?" He grinned and sat beside her.

"Hiyuki was going on and on and on about seeing you again," he told her. "You're like her role model, now." She laughed.

"She's cute," she told him. "You should bring her with you, sometimes." He smiled then, and for some reason it made her blush.

"What time is it?" she asked, looking away from him to try and find a change of subject. "Do one of you have a watch?"

"Around three," Itachi replied. She looked at him. He was laying back down on the grass with his eyes closed. But he wasn't relaxed. The skewer from the dango was sticking up from out of the ground beside his hand.

"I have to go," she said, standing up. "My Mom will be mad if I'm not home for lunch."

"Already?" Shisui whined. "I just got here. Oh well. Need someone to walk you?"

"You don't have to," she objected, but Shisui stood up anyways. "Well, okay then..." She looked at Itachi. "See you later?"

"Yea," he mumbled, looking like he was about to go back to sleep. She grabbed her purse and started back towards the compound, with Shisui following her. They made small talk along the way, mainly whining about how the fence was too tall and it was like a mile till the actual gate in the fence. The decided they were going to take down a few boards and make their own gate, and they laughed at how Shisui would have to arrest both him and her for 'defacing public property.' When they got to her door, she turned to him.

"See you later?" he asked. And there was that smile again. The one that was too friendly, that made her blush.

"See you later," she offered back, smiling back at him. She left first, shutting the door behind him.

Her mother was in the kitchen cooking, and she set her purse down on one of the chairs and tried to sneak past Mari. She walked up the stairs and to her room, where she shut the door and leaned against it. It may have not been directed at her before this, but she knew what a smile like that meant. She let out a shaky breath.

_Oh my God.

* * *

_

* * *

**1: Lol, people who thought the imp guy was Madara after the last chapter: Do you really think he'd let himself get his ass beat by a thirteen year old? xD**

**2: OMG DOUBLE LINE WONT GO AWAY xD (the one up there! *points up* Sorry, I'm hyper xD)**

**3: *gasp* Shisui likes Ayano!**

**4: dam, this chapter sucked. T.T ItachixAyano moment, tho!**

**Okay, now that I'm done with my random little list of hyper-induced comments on this chapter, review and I'll give you dango!  
**


	10. Omake

**I do not own Naruto**~

**Okay, so I got writers block, and decided to take a break from the storyline for an Omake :P don't hate me! it should be entertaining:)

* * *

**

"Haunted house?" Ayano replied disbelievingly. Itachi perched on the tree above them and Shisui was spread out on the ground while Ayano sat in the shade aginst the tree. It was another sunny day, but this time it was just plain hot, and she didn't want to get a sunburn.

"Yep," Shisui replied cheerfully. "The condemned house behind the compound." Itachi was looking at his cousin as if he had a mental problem.

"I thought there was a field behind the compound," Ayano objected. Shisui grinned, ignoring Itachi.

"The house behind the field," he corrected. "There's supposed to be the ghost of a Maneki Neko going around."

"A _cat?_" Ayano scoffed. "A dead, ceremic _cat?"_

"I need to take you to see Ibiki," Itachi spoke up, looking at Shisui. "He needs to check you for mental problems."

"Hey, it's true," Shisui defended. "I saw it!" Ayano rose an eyebrow.

"You lie," Itachi accused. Shisui grimaced and sat up indian style, using his hands to describe.

"No, for real, it was like this black cat the size of a dog and it was like _really_ skinny, like it had been starving or something. It was walking around with like this weird smoky black thing following, and it had weird jade eyes." Ayano pictured it.

"Creepy," she grimaced. Itachi looked at her sharply.

"You don't _honestly_ believe him, do you?" he asked increduoesly. She frowned.

"Just because I think it sounds creepy doesn't mean I believe in it," she defended. Shisui grimaced and crossed his arms, turning away from them.

"Fine, then," he sniffed. "If you don't believe me, go there tomorrow night. During the full moon."

"You're a sorrow excuse for ANBU," Itachi stated, grimacing. Shisui stuck his tongue out at him.

Ayano was grinning.

"Sounds kinda fun," she admitted. Shisui whipped around to face her with stars in his eyes. Itachi scoffed.

"Do what you want, but I'm not going to waste my time for something as stupid as this."

* * *

"I can't believe I'm wasting my time for something as stupid as this..." Ayano giggled.

"Cheer up, Weasel-face," she told him. "It'll be fun." He sighed.

The night was dark, but lit up by the full moon overhead. The forest was quiet around them, and it was making Ayano tense.

"Boo," something whispered in her ear.

"Eep!" she exclaimed, whipping around and instinctively swiping her hand towards it as she leapt back. Itachi caught her hand with a mocking smile.

"You're not actually scared, are you?" he asked her. She glared at him and yanked her hang back, walking beside Shisui and mumbling something under her breath like 'stupid weasels' or something. Itachi chuckled and shook his head.

The house began to peek out from the treeline, and Ayano found herself getting more nervous. She glanced over at Shisui, who looked relaxed, but saw the clench to his jaw that told her he was uncomfortable.

It was basically a huge four-story house, bigger than Itachi's. Windows were broken, boards were loose, and it looked downright rundown. There was a stone fence running around it, but they could only see the front part of it. Tree limbs hung over the fence into the front yard and had moss hanging down from it, giving it an ominous look.

"Be careful when you walk in it," Shisui told them. "I seriously almost fell through the floor more than once."

There was a slab of stone beside the gate entrance, and a black lucky cat was perched behind it, green eyes twinkling mischievously.

"I hope this wasn't what you were talking about," Itachi grimaced, crossing his arms and he looked down at it. Shisui ignored him and leaned down to observe it.

The slab had writing on it, and Ayano peered at it to try and read it.

_Kanojo ga kanojo no chuushin to tsukut ta nani o ima aru kare no chuushin no chikaku ni,_

_kanojo no chuushin o shiyoo shi te kanojo wa kanojo no yuujin no chuushin ni chikai mono o tsukut ta, _

_betsu no buhin o setsuzoku shi, kokoro no yasuragi ni ari nasai. _**(A.N: The translation is at the end of the chapter.)**_  
_

"...Why?" Ayano asked after she read over it again.

"It's a poem, I guess," Shisui shrugged.

"Or a riddle," Itachi supplied.

"Same thing," Shisui waved it away.

"To _you._" Ayano ignored their bickering and peered up at the house, trying to see through the window. It looked like nothing could survive in there. Something caught her eyes, and she looked at the window of the third floor, quinting her eyes to try and see.

A feline figure slunk in front of the window, casting barely a glance at the little group in front of the house.

With a yelp, she shied back, and tripped over Shisui, who squeaked out a very un-manly scream, and fell onto the lucky cat and tipped it over. A faint ringing noise filled the air.

The cat hissed at her.

"What?" Itachi asked, instantly stepping in front of her.

"Something was in the window," she breathed. Itachi relaxed from his stiff position and looked at her. "I'm not lying!"

"You're seeing things," he sighed, She folded her arms and glared.

"Well It's not my fault I've had some bad experiences with windows," she growled. "Excuse me for being paranoid." Itachi just shook his head.

"Come on, let's just get this over with." He started off towards the house, and Shisui left after him. Not wanting to be left alone, Ayano followed.

Itachi came to the door and paused, testing the floor out. Ayano glanced up at the window and saw nothing. She looked back at Itachi and saw him walking in the house. She hesitated.

"I got your back," Shisui assured her. She sighed in relief and slowly walked into the house. Itachi was waiting for her, and she was grateful. He looked around the foyer.

"Do we have to go through all of it?" he asked Shisui, who shrugged.

"Just till we find something interesting," he stated, glancing around as well, Ayano was basically tuck to Shisui's side.

A gush of cold air passed over them, and Ayano got chill bumps.

"Shisui." She glanced over at Itachi and took note of his stiff position, and looked in the direction he was facing.

A sleek black cat, about the size of a labrador retriever stood in front of the entrance to what she thought was the living room, staring at them with cold jade eyes. It looked completely malnourished, as if it hadn't eaten in weeks. It had a silty black coat of fur, though, giving it a creepy look. What caught her attention the ost were the black tendrils floating around it's end, whipping about like extra tails.

Itachi's hand inched towards his pocket, where he had a kunai.

The cat saw this and let out a growl, ears flattening and it's back arching. Itachi activated his Sharingan.

The cat leapt at him.

Ayano screamed and clung to Shisui's arm as she watched Itachi swipe at the thing with his kunai.

And watched it go right through it, as the cat raked a claw across his face, leaving a bright red welt, and proceeded to phase right through him and move in front of the door. It then starting yowling as low as it could, hissing and spiting at them.

"What is it, Itachi!?" Shisui yelled over the screaming as he pulled Ayano behind him.

"I don't know, I can't see it!" Itachi yelled back. He was looking right at the cat, but having a shocked look on his face.

"What do you mean, you can't see it!?"

"I mean, when I activate my Sharingan, I see no chakra, I can't see what it's going to do next, and I _can't see anything there!"_

_"_We need to get Ayano away," Shisui shouted next, and Itachi nodded. Itachi leapt at the cat, shutting it up so it could try to defend itself, and Shisui grabbed Ayano pulled her up the stairs and through several hallways. Itachi had jumped back at the last second and was following them. They came to a door in the hallway and Shisui pulled her into it, shutting it as quietly as he could.

"You okay?" he asked a shaking Ayano, who nodded breathlessly. He looked at Itachi. "How's that scratch?" Itachi ran his hand over his forehead, where he knew he had gotten scratched, and where they had saw him get scratched. Ayano couldn't see in the dimmer light, yet.

"It's not there," Itachi breathed, sounding shocked. Ayano blinked.

"It's not?" Shisui repeated. "Are you sure?"

"Well, I'm feeling where it's cold as hell right now on my skin, and I feel nothing other than the possible frostbite." Shisui breathed a sigh of relief.

"Some Maneki Neko," he chuckled.

"More like Akuma Neko," Ayano panted, leaning on her knees.

Shisui didn't say anything, because he was now staring at Itachi with his mouth hanging open.

"What?" Itachi snapped.

"Did you just _run_ from a _ghost_?" he asked incredulously. Itachi glared at him.

"In case you didn't notice, it is hostile, it has no physical shape, it can _harm us, _and I can't see it with Sharingan. Mind telling me what we do if it doesn't let us leave?" Shisui chuckled nervously. "...Shh!" Itachi suddenly said sharply. Ayano clamped her mouth shut, holding her breath, and Itachi pressed her and him against the wall and Shisui followed.

That cold breeze overcame them again, and Ayano started trembling. The soft patter of an animal walking sounded through the hallways, and her breathing started again, loudly. Itachi clamped a hand over her mouth and nose.

It kept walking and stopped at the door.

The four seconds it stood there felt like an eternity.

"**_This is my house,"_** a harsh voice hissed from the door, making Ayano's skin crawl. **_"Get OUT!!!"_**

The door flew open with a gust of freezing wind, and Ayano screamed again, her need for air causing her to pry Itachi's hand from her face.

"_**Get out, get out, get out, get out, get out!!!"**_ The voice ranted.

"The window!" Itachi exclaimed. Shisui saw it and made a dash for it, throwing himself at it and breaking the glass as he fell through tot he outside. "Hold on," Itachi told Ayano as he picked her up bridal style. "Keep your head against my neck. You might get cut."

"_**Get out, get out, get out!!!!"**_ He ran for the same window Shisui jumped threw and leapt through himself, landing softly on the ground. He nudged Ayano an put her down. She only whimpered when she saw their new surroundings.

They stood in a cemetery, with even the ominous mist to complete the look. Shisui was busy reading some of the tombstones.

"I think I found the last resident," he called over his shoulder. Ayano walked over to him with Itachi following behind her. Shisui checked them both for injuries, and she smiled in spite of herself. He was a good cousin, even if his little cousin _could _kick his ass. "It was Miyano Tsukuhira, right?" Itachi nodded.

"I remember, " Itachi said. "She used to make clothes and ribbons and sell them in town. My mother told me she died of cancer at the age of I think it was 87 when my mother was 4."

"Can we just leave, now?" Ayano whined. "Can't we just jump over the cemetery wall?" Shisui shook his head.

"Don't you know, Shrimpie? Anything except leaving out the way you came will get you cursed." She groaned.

"Then is there anything that tells us how we can get out safely or something like that?" Shisui shook his head again.

"If anything, I'd say the riddle at the gate would help us, but it made no sense to me."

"The cat lost something dear to him, obviously," Ayano pointed out. "'Eyes for only the gift his master gave him, using her heart, she made what is close to his, join the separate pieces, and be in peace.' So we need to find out what he lost and give it to him."

"But we have no clue what it is, though," Shisui whined.

"We do have one," Itachi stated. "This Miyano person had a specialty for ribbons. If we can find out where she kept them, we might be able to find a clue." It was Ayano's turn to whine.

"We have to go back in there?" she whined. Itachi sighed.

"We all can't go back. One of us needs to stay with Ayano."

"I'll go," Shisui immediately spoke up. "If I get in trouble I could just flicker out. You guys wait for me and I'll try to find something." He started walking back towards the house, against Ayano's protesting, and scaled the wall to the window they have jumped out of. He clung to the side of it for a while, listening to anything in the room, before slinking in.

"He won't be long," Itachi promised her. "He'll stay safe." She had this nagging feeling in the back of her head that was worrying about Shisui. She waited for who knows how long, waiting for Shisui to come back, waiting for Itachi to go in to find him, waiting for the ghost cat to show up.

She really wished she hadn't thought of the latter.

Because now it was standing behind them about twenty feet away, waving it's tail in twitching motions. With her eyes wide with terror, she tugged on Itachi's sleeve and pointed to it. Itachi turned to look at it stiffly.

It growled at them, and Itachi wasted no time in simply grabbing Ayano and jumping the roofs to the other side of the house, where the gate was.

"Let's go," Itachi said as he set her down again and pushed her towards the gate. "Come on!"

"I found out!" Shisui's voice came from somewhere. They looked back up on the roof to see him swinging himself out of a window, holding up a handful of what looked like dust. "She had jade carvings in her room, next to a bunch of ribbons! There were some mess ups, but I found out she was making a bell!"

A bell...

Shisui was suddenly slammed through the roof, and the demon cat jumped out of the hole it just previously stomped Shisui into. Itachi, having already passed the gates, turned to go help his cousin, but as he took a step forward, he was pushed back. He put his hands on the invisible wall keeping him from the property and pushed. It didn't budge. He looked up in panic at Ayano, who was still on the other side.

"Come on!" he told her.

"But, Shisui-"

"He can take care of himself. But right now, you have no defenses. _Come on_!"

The cat jumped down to the ground, stalking towards Ayano, and Itachi's attempts to get past the barrier increased.

Ayano looked around frantically before seeing the plaque and knocked over lucky cat. It had broken. A dark blue ribbon stuck out of it. She ran to it, and the demon cat charged at her.

"This must be it," Ayano breathed, scrambling on her hands and knees and picking up the delicate bell. She turned to the demon cat. "You wanted this, right?!" Ayano yelled, holding out the jade bell towards the rushing ghost.

It stopped in it's tracks, ten feet away from her, staring at the piece of art in her hand.

"Miyano-san made it, right?" Ayano went on, trembling. Itachi was feet behind her, hands outstretched as if he was about to grab her and run. "It was in this ceramic cat. You missed it?" The cat warily walked forward and sniffed the bell. Ayano forced herself not to shiver when it picked up the bell with it's teeth.

And suddenly, in the blink of an eye, it was a normal sized cat, still holding the bell in between it's teeth, and Itachi finally pushed through the barrier. It seemed like it was about to trot off before Ayano stopped it.

"Wait," she called. It paused and turned to look at her.

"_What are you doing?_" Itachi hissed from behind her. Ayano ignored him.

"Do you want me to tie it around your neck?" she offered. "So you won't lose it again?"

The cat blinked at her.

And then trotted over to her, sitting with it's back to her and twisting her head to offer her the bell. Ayano carefully took it, afraid of how it would react. But it didn't show any hostility and she tied it loosely around it's neck, trembling. When she was done, the cat looked back at her with what seemed like a smile.

"Thank you," it purred, before disappearing altogether. Ayano took a few deep breaths, eyes scanning the house for anything. She saw nothing.

And then she was pulled to her feet by a rather pissed Itachi, who was checking her to see if she had any injuries.

"That was incredibly stupid," he hissed out. "You could have been possessed or something." Ayano laughed nervously.

"Kami, shrimpie!" Shisui exclaimed as he rushed over after falling down from the window of the fourth floor. "I saw what was happening from the roof. You could've gotten killed!"

"But I didn't," she stated as an excuse. The two boys rolled their eyes and glared at her, and she let out a more relaxed laugh.

"What's going on here?" a voice boomed through the forest, nearly making the three teens jump five feet in the air. Well, Itachi would've only jumped two feet.

Ayano looked up to see a confused Fugaku standing at the edge of the forest with three other officers standing behind him.

"We got complaints about screaming coming from this house," Fugaku stated suspiciously, narrowing his eyes at the three before him.

"That was either Shisui or me," Ayano snickered, remembering when she fell on Shisui and made him scream. Fugaku narrowed his eyes.

"What happened?"

"We were chased by a ghost cat who was looking for it's master's present to it for the last forty years," Itachi said nonchalantly. Fugaku looked at him like he was crazy.

"...What?"

"It's a long story," Shisui summed up. Fugaku scowled at them all, and Ayano wanted to hide behind Itachi.

"Well, I'm going to hear the whole story, because I would count this as trespassing public property." Ayano cursed under her breath and shot a glare at Shisui, who glanced back innocently.

"...You're going to tell my Mom, aren't you?" she whimpered pathetically to Fugaku.

"Damn right I am." She groaned.

"We didn't damage much," Itachi spoke up. "...Except a ceramic cat. And the roof."

"Itachi."

"Yes, father?"

"You're grounded."

*snicker*

"And Shisui, you get to take care of any civil disputes we called for, for the next month."

"What?!"

"Ayano."

*gulp* "Y-yes?"

"You're hired."

"Huh!?"

"You're fired."

"What??"

And that night they all put charms around their house to keep away the spirits.

* * *

**Sorry if the poem was translated bad T.T I'm pretty sure it means this:**

_**Eyes for only the gift his master gave him,**_

_**Using her heart, she made what is close to his,**_

_**Join the separate pieces, and be in peace.**_

**If it's wrong, OH WELL, pretend it's right :P**

**SO how was this? I was half asleep when i wrote it, so please no flames T.T they make me sad  
**

**Review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**I do not own Naruto**~

* * *

July

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August

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Mid-September

"Mom, have you seen my kimono?" Ayano called down from upstairs.

"It's in my room!" Mari called back, rolling her eyes at Mikoto, who was grinning. "She's really excited about this," she explained. "She hasn't been to a festival since she was four."

"Sasuke hasn't ever been," Mikoto replied. "He's excited, too." She glanced at her youngest son, who was practically bouncing in his seat, and her oldest, who was trying to calm him down.

It was a miracle she had gotten Itachi to come as well. She basically threatened him that she would tell the Hokage that he was sick again, so Itachi grudgingly acceded.

"Ayano's been a little paranoid about them," Mari stated, lowering her voice down to a whisper. "She got lost in one when she was three and she said a boy her age helped her find me." Itachi looked up sharply, but the mothers didn't notice. "She was terrified to ever go again after that." Itachi chuckled.

How ironic, he thought.

"What's so funny, Aniki?" Sasuke asked. Itachi just shook his head.

"So how's the baby?" Mikoto asked conversationally. Mari smiled affectionately.

"He's due in two months," she stated proudly. "Ayano's really excited about it." Then she scowled slightly. "I know she's thinking about the baby when she supervises what I eat, but if she doesn't let me have a fried twinky I'm going to throttle her." Mikoto laughed.

"Are we ready?" Ayano asked, coming down the stairs dressed in a indigo kimono with small pink flowers decorating the bottom. She grinned and spun around, showing it off to Mari and Mikoto. "You like?"

"You look beautiful!" they both squeeled, telling her to turn around again and fawning over her. And then of course, Mikoto just _had_ to make it awkward.

"Don't you think so, Itachi?" she asked, turning to look back at him. Ayano binked in surprise and glanced at Itachi, who wasn't paying attention before and looked up as well, a questioning look forming on his face. "Her kimono," Mikoto reminded him. He looked at her then, his confused look still in place. Ayano shrugged, knowing they couldn't get out of this one.

"It's nice," he forced out just to get them off his back. Mikoto seemed to do a little dance.

"What's you're favorite part about it?" she pressed. Ayano blushed slightly, and Itachi narrowed his eyes.

"Don't push it, mother," he warned. "It's beyond me how you actually managed to get father to let me come as well."

"Fine, fine," Mikoto sighed. "Speaking of, your father says he's going to meet up with us."

"He's going?" both Itachi and Ayano asked at the same time. Itachi sounded incredulous and Ayano sounded nervous. Hey, it wasn't her fault. That time he hired her and then fired her the next second had made her not entirely like him. He actually had the nerve to put it on her record! She could see it now, her trying to find a job in case she didn't keep the one she had, and her could-be boss' eyes giving her an odd look when they heard she had joined the police force for a total of three seconds.

"Yep," Mikoto replied cheerfully. Ayano hid a groan. "Well, we should get going before it gets too crowded."

"We can't eat first?" Ayano whined. Mari laughed.

"There's going to be food there," she reminder her daughter.

"Oh yea." When Itachi smirked she stuck her tongue out at him.

* * *

And of course, as Lady Luck would have it, they got separated form their parents.

"I just don't think I'm destined to go to a festival with my mom," she mused. "Oi, Sasuke, do you see your mom?" she asked the smaller Uchiha. He grimaced and shook his head. She sighed. They had lost track of their parents when some guy had started a random conversation with Fugaku that involved Itachi, and the mothers were off talking about something. So now she and Sasuke were standing in the middle of the crowd, trying to locate someone they knew. She sighed again.

"Let's try to find the stand we were at last," she told Sasuke, who nodded. They pushed through the crowd, and Ayano sighed in relief when the people thinned out a little. She glanced around again. They were beside an alley, and there were a few vendors acroos the street from them, but she saw nothing familiar.

Someone bumped into her rather roughly, and her hand was torn from Sasuke's, but they were both pushed back into the alley.

"I'm sorry," Ayano replied on relfex, bowing. "I should have watched where I was going." She looked up at a man who was looking at them rather oddly.

"...Are you an Uchiha?" he asked suddenly. Ayano frowned.

"Um, yes?" she replied.

The man suddenly grinned, and it sent shivers up her spine.

"I'm sorry, but we have to go..." She tried to walk past him, tugging a nervous Sasuke behind her, but he stuck his hand out, blocking her.

"OH, so you don't have enough time for someone like me?" the man bit off, his grin turning into a scowl. Ayano backed up away from him, pulling Sasuke as she did so.

"What do you want?" Ayano demanded, pushing Sasuke behind her. The man narrowed his eyes at them.

"You Uchiha think you're so great," he growled. Ayano's brow pulled down. "What have you done that's so special?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she told him, taking a step back. "Please let us leave."

"But if I do that, you'll just go and tell your clan. I think it'd be better if you just stayed quiet..." The man took a step forward.

"You're forgetting something," Sasuke suddenly spoke up. "My brother is in the police force and ANBU. He'll find out who did it. And then you won't have any place to run to." His words surprised Ayano, and she stared at him with wide eyes.

"I'm a jonin," the man laughed. "He won't do anything."

Apparently he didn't know who he was dealing with. If he knew Itachi was Sasuke's brother, he would probably be running for his life.

He took another step.

"Stay away," Ayano hissed, adrenaline pulsing through her veins. She didn't stand a chance. "I'll scream," she warned.

And then she was pulled away from Sasuke, slammed into the wall, and Sasuke was pushed into a bunch of trashcans. Her breath was knocked out of her and her vision swam. She forced herself to her feet and pushed the man away from Sasuke. He retaliated by suddenly jabbing his finger in her arm, and she felt it go numb. Her eyes widened as he did the exact same thing to her shoulder, and her arm fell limp by her side. She was slammed into the wall again.

"Katon: Goukyakuu no justu!"

A giant flame errupted in the alleyway, making the man fall back, and Ayano gasped when she felt the flames lick her skin.

Holy shit! Was that _Sasuke!??_ When the flame dispersed she looked towards him and saw his lowering his arms from some kind of stance.

And then the man was behind him, stabbing his finger into several places of his back and arms. Sasuke cried out and turned around to hit the man, but he was already at the mouth of the alley, glaring at both of them. Sasuke's arms fell limp by his side, dark bruises dotting his skin.

Somebody had to have seen that fire! Who would miss it!? Shouldn't people be coming to help them?

The man lunged for Sasuke, but Ayano threw herself at him, slamming him into the wall. He tried to push her back but she struck his stomach with her elbow and he grunted. She knew she was about to die.

Her vision swam red. From the side of her, Sasuke gasped. The man moved to strike her, and she had the instinct that she knew exactly what he was going to do next.

He tried to hit her other shoulder, and she let him. She knew the moment he would stop moving his arm, the moment she could grab it.

Just at the short pause he made between pushing his arm forward and pulling it back, she shifted so it wouldn't hit whatever spot he was aiming for,and she snagged his arm and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him to her so she could smash her head into his nose. He let out a strangled and surprised cry of pain, pulling back from her, but she didn't stop there.

She did what any other girl would have most likely done, and took a step forward, bringing her knee up sharply to hit him in the groin. He fell to the ground then, a colorful string of profanities spewing from his mouth, and Ayano grabbed Sasuke and started to run. The red haze disappeared.

A hand caught her ankle and she looked down to see the man grasping her leg, and she pushed Sasuke towards the mouth of the alley.

"Go get help!" she yelled at him. He hesitated, unsure of what to do.

The man threw her to the back of the alley way, into a pile of crates, and she let out a cry of pain when she felt the wood underneath her break and give through.

She looked up dazedly at the man who was advancing towards her, a scowl on his face. Movement behind him caused her to glance towards the mouth of the alley and sigh in relief.

Itachi stood there, his expression livid and completely terrifying.

'You found me _again_,' Ayano couldn't help but think.

The man whipped around, gasped, and turned around to run away almost instantly.

Itachi grabbed him by his throat and hurled him out of the alley, sending him crashing into a vendor. He walked over and helped Ayano to her feet, and as soon as he appeared, he was walking towards the man, hands clenched into fists.

'He's going to kill him,' Ayano thought in horror. She rushed up to check on Sasuke, who was staring at his brother in surprise, and tried to call Itachi's name to tell him to stop. But she was sure he couldn't hear her over the shouting of the crowd that had appeared in a circle.

The man was laying in a heap of broken wood and tacky souvenirs, groaning in pain.

Itachi's foot came down onto the man's chest heavily, and the man was wheezing for breath as Itachi applied more weight.

"I should kill you," he hissed.

"Itachi!" she suddenly heard Fugaku yell. "What are you doing?" She looked over to see him pushing through the crowd, Mikoto following behind him, with wide eyes.

Itachi ignored them and moved his foot to the man's neck, eyes narrowing dangerously. The man tried to move his foot and choked.

"Uchiha!" another, new voice barked. Ayano looked to the other side of the circle to see a man with long hair and traditional clothes step out, glaring at Itachi. What creeped her out was that he had no pupils, and his eyes were a pale milky color. He directed his glare to Fugaku. "Explain this!"

"He attacked members of my clan," Itachi growled out, loud enough for them to hear. "I see no problem killing him right now."

Mikoto's gaze finally found it's way to Ayano and Sasuke, who were both almost leaning on each other and had ugly bruises dotting their arms and disheveled clothes.

"Oh, my god!" she gasped, rushing to them. The second man looked at Ayano and Sasuke and his eyes widened.

"I think _you_ should explain yourself, Hiashi," Fugaku growled back. Hiashi met Fugaku's eyes for a moment before glaring at the man beneath Itachi's feet.

"Speak," he barked.

"I don't see why the Uchiha can think they're so superior," the man chocked out. Itachi gave him enough room to speak, but activated his Sharingan in response to the man's words.

Hiashi's glare intesified.

"So you took your foolish prejudice out on innocent children?" he asked. The man was speechless as what appeared to be veins suddenly appeared along the sides of Hiashi's eyes.

"I--..uh," the man spluttered. Hiashi looked at Fugaku.

"I am terribly sorry for what this imbecile has done, and I plead for you to understand that our council had nothing to do with this," he stated. "And that he will be punished," he finished with a glare to the man. "How pathetic, attacking children who had nothing to do with you." The veins on the side of his eyes disappeared. "You're banished from the main branch." The man widened his eyes in disbelief.

"But you can't do that!" he shouted.

"Watch me," Hiashi growled. He looked at Sasuke, then to Fugaku. "We have healers who could fix their chakra points," he offered.

"We'll take care of it," Fugaku replied in a cold voice. Hiashi looked at Itachi.

"Uchiha-san," he asked. Itachi didn't move for a moment, just glaring down at the man.

And then he pressed down on the man's chest with his foot, and a sickening crack filled the area, followed by howls of pain. Itachi removed his foot and people who seemed like relatives of Hiashi rushed forward to take the man. Hiashi met Fugaku's eyes again and bowed before turning to walk away.

"Hiashi-san," Itachi called. Said man paused and turned to look at the Uchiha. Itachi had his Sharingan activated still. "I warn you that if anyone comes near my clan, especially my brother or friends, with the intention of harming them, I will not hold back." Hiashi stared for a moment, taking the words into consideration.

"I understand," he nodded, before turning to leave again. After he did, there were murmurs in the crowd as Fugaku went to Ayano and Sasuke and as a group of Uchiha was forming, looking outraged. Itachi walked over to them. Sasuke immediately jumped on him, and Itachi kneeled down so he could hug his brother. He glanced up at Ayano.

"Thank you for protecting him," he told her sincerely. Ayano blinked before nodding.

"Aniki, you should have seen it!" Sasuke told him in an excited voice. "Ayano actually fought him! He said he was a jonin and she fought him! I saw her activate Sharingan!" Itachi's breath caught, and he immediately tried to shush his brother, glancing up at a confused Ayano, and then at his father who eyes were suddenly on Ayano, a cruel smirk forming on his lips.

* * *

"But how can I have Sharingan?" Ayano asked as Mikoto worked on her arm, her mother freaking out behind her. "Fu-- dge!" she bit off the curse word when another chakra point was forced open. The Hyuuga clan, she had found out, was the clan that man belonged to, and they did have healers who knew how to reopen the chakra points without having to force them open. Which was what Mikoto was doing, now. She had already worked on Sasuke, who was nearly in tears by the time she was finished.

"By a very lucky chance," Fugaku replied, ignoring the almost curse. He gave her an approving look. "You aren't even a ninja, and you broke a jonin's nose. I'm impressed." Both Sasuke and Itachi frowned, and Ayano wanted to hide under a rock for some reason.

"I'm sure he was drunk or something," she muttered. "OW!" Itachi was shaking his head.

"You're some sort of danger magnet or something," he accused. Ayano frowned at him.

"Sorry," Mikoto told Ayano, massaging the sore area. "I'm surprised you even have chakra points. I guess we have Sharingan to blame for that."

"Annoying," Ayano muttered. Mikoto glanced up at her sharply, surprised.

"Annoying?" she repeated. Ayano shrugged, averting her eyes and hoping she didn't offend them or anything.

"I mean, I'm glad I got it when I did, but it kinda creeped me out. I saw this red haze and I knew everything he was going to do, suddenly. It kinda scared me."

"I'm sure you'll get used to it," Fugaku told her. Itachi glared at his father for some reason unknown to Ayano, and she found herself frowning again.

* * *

Two days later:

He feet felt like led but he kept them moving anyways. A sense of dread filled him as he thought over the reason as to why he was walking towards the Nakano river this late at night. The cold air made him almost shiver, but he forced himself to be composed.

Itachi walked to the bridge where he knew Shisui would be waiting for him.

Shisui was leaning over the railing and staring at the water blankly."You have your ANBU gear on..." he stated in a monotone. He glanced back at Itachi. "You don't have a mission." His eyes looked hollow. "They found out, didn't they?" His younger cousin stayed silent, his pained expression concealed by his mask. Shisui let out a chuckle, looking defeated. "They sent you here to kill me, right?"

* * *

**Hm, this chapter kind of skipped around, didn't it? I'm going to have to avoid doing that. I read a book once that did it and it bothered the crap outa me...**

**Review!  
**


	12. Chapter 12

**I do not own Naruto**~

* * *

_"Uchiha," Danzo barked out. Itachi narrowed his eyes and stepped forward._

_"Hai." Danzo narrowed his eyes back at him._

_"Your cousin is spying on us." Itachi's breath caught slightly, and he bit his tongue._

_"...Yes." Koharu spoke up next._

_"Where does his loyalty lie?" she asked. Itachi knew they were thinking about getting him to spy on the clan, too. He thought of Hiyuki._

_"...With the clan..." Homura sighed._

_"He's gotten obvious about finding out information," he stated. "Dispose of him." Itachi's eyes widened._

_"You don't understand," he defended quickly. "They're holding his sister hostage. He doesn't want to do it-"_

_"Well then let's spare his sister if he messes up," Danzo interrupted. "Kill him, Uchiha, this isn't open to negotiations. Let's make the Uchiha a little paranoid." Itachi grit his teeth and looked to the third for backup. Sarutobi sighed and shook his head sadly.

* * *

_

"They found out, didn't they?" His younger cousin stayed silent. He let out a chuckle, looking defeated. "They sent you here to kill me, right?" Itachi's gaze lowered.

"I'm sorry..." he murmured. Shisui shook his head.

"I was messy, it's my fault." He laughed again. "So, you're still better than me, huh?" Itachi was about to protest, but Shisui silenced him by pulling a out a slip of paper. "I figured they'd send you after me, so I went ahead and made this to get the clan off your trail." He held up the paper and Itachi noticed it had writing on it. He reached forward so he could read it.

"Ah," Shisui objected, pulling it away from his reach. "Fingerprints. It's a suicide note."

"Suicide?" Itachi repeated. Shisui grinned, like he wasn't discussing his death.

"Yeah, I'm gonna drown myself in the river," he gestured behind him. "I'm gonna need your help, though, or I'll just come back up on reflex." Itachi was speechless. Shisui grinned again.

"Come on, we gotta hurry," he told Itachi, grabbing him and pulling him to the side of the bridge. "They're gonna send people to look for us soon. We had a meeting tonight, didn't we?" Itachi nodded after they landed on the soft bank of the river. Shisui looked at him with a sad smile.

"Just make sure they don't try to do anything to my sister after I'm gone, kay?" He glanced in the cold water and shivered, then looked back at Itachi with a grin.

"Bye, little cousin."

* * *

A knock on her window made her jolt awake.

Her thoughts flew back to the masked man that had broken in, but when she looked, she saw the figure of Itachi illuminated by the moon.

"Itachi?" she asked. She stood up and went to unlock the window and let him in. "What happened?" The cold air filled the room and made her shiver.

He surprised her by immediately collapsing by the window, burying his face in his hands.

"It's Shisui," he groaned. Ayano blinked, frowning. She kneeled beside him and had a strong urge to comfort him.

"Shisui?" she asked. "What about him?"

"I killed him."

It felt like someone injected ice into her veins.

"You..." she couldn't finish the sentence. She was speechless.

"He was spying for the clan and they found out," he moaned. "They ordered me to kill him." Ayano's breath was coming out in short bursts. "I tried to get them to understand, I tried--" He suddenly cut himself off short, looking at her in shock. She wasn't supposed to know about the coup. "I--"

"Spying...?" she whispered. Itachi grit his teeth. He needed to tell her, now.

"The clan feels as if they aren't trusted," he told her. "They got me to join ANBU to spy on the government for them. They're planning a coup de' tat." He was silent for a while, letting her digest the words. She was trying to calm herself down. "But the government found out, and they're using me to spy on the clan. Shisui was told to get them information because it looked like I was messing up, when I was giving the clan false information. He didn't want to, and they threatened his sister." He let out a deep breath. "The government found out Shisui was spying on them and ordered me to kill him." He stopped there. He couldn't bring himself to ask her if she would join, not after what he had just done. He looked at her expression and felt more alone than he ever had.

She was looking at him in horror, her skin ghost white and breath coming out in shallow gasps.

"They..." she gasped out, "...made you kill...Shisui...?" Itachi didn't answer: just buried his face in his hands again. Ayano felt something warm fall down her cheeks. "Shisui is...dead?" She put a hand over her mouth and tried to stop crying. She couldn't break out into sobs, not when her mother was in the other room. She hadn't felt this sad ever before in her life, not even when her parents got divorced. Shisui was dead. And she was never going to see him again.

But if she felt bad, then how did Itachi feel?

She lifted her eyes to him, and saw how he was still hiding his face, heard how his breath was coming out in short bursts.

"...Itachi...?" she asked. He didn't reply. She reached out and touched his shoulder, and he tensed. "Look at me." He didn't. "I won't give you any more dango," she warned.

He let out a forced chuckle, glancing at her then. It sounded like the laugh of someone who was about to break down, the laugh that sounded slightly hysteric coming from his lips.

It didn't matter that he was in ANBU and a feared shinobi. It didn't matter that he was the prodigy of the clan, or that he had killed countless people before. What mattered is that he was only thirteen, and he had been ordered to kill his best friend.

He didn't remember the last time he cried like this.

* * *

The sun filtered through the trees cheerfully, clashing with his mood. She was walking towards him, so he sat up and waited for her.

"...They came to your house, didn't they?" Ayano asked as she sat down beside him in the field. Itachi nodded, his eyes faraway but far from peaceful.

"They think it was me anyways," he mumbled. "They're starting an investigation."

"Even after the note?" she asked. He layed back down on the ground.

"It's because if you use Sharingan you can forge someone's handwriting," he explained. He looked like he was thinking about something and was quiet for a minute.

"What is it?" she asked. He shook his head.

"It's nothing," he replied quietly. "Just something I realized." He looked like he didn't want to talk about it, so she didn't press. She tried to think of a way to cheer him up.

"My mom locked me in my room yesterday," she said sourly, but grinned. "So she could pig out on fried twinkies and chocolate cake." Itachi cracked a smile.

"Don't you know?" he asked. "**_Never_** deny a pregnant woman something when she is craving." He shuddered. "When my mother was pregnant with Sasuke, my Dad wouldn't go get her strawberry cake with pickles on it and she broke the fridge..." He chuckled. "That was around seven or eight years ago, but I remember it perfectly. We had to go out shopping again because all our food spoiled." Ayano laughed.

"Why can I picture that?" she asked him with a grin. He shrugged, and his smile turned fake. She frowned.

"I have to go home," he stated, standing up.

"Already?" she asked. He dusted himself off and shrugged, smiling down at her.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he told her, waving goodbye and walking towards the woods. She frowned after him and sighed, falling back down on the grass, looking up at the sky through her eyelashes. Fluffy clouds frifted lazily across the light blue sky, and small breezes lightly rustled the leaves. She looked to the side of her, remembering the time she watched Shisui and Itachi spar. To anyone they would have looked like they were trying to beat each other's brains out, but she could tell they were having fun.

She sighed as a sad smile made it's way to her lips, her eyes getting moist. She looked back at the sky.

Her mom was probably at home eating something unhealthy, she knew it. She chuckled and stood up, starting to walk home.

There weren't very many people on the streets that day, but she was glad about it. It always felt weird around any clan member after she heard about what they were planning. She opened her front door.

"Im home," she called out. "Oof!" She ran into someone, and looked up in surprise at Itachi.

"Again?" she whined as he steadied her. She rubbed her forehead where her head smacked his.

"This is happening quite often, isn't it?" he asked, chuckling and touching his own forehead.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I went home and remembered that I needed to tell you something, so I came to see if you were home yet," he shrugged.

"Oh," she said. "What is it?" He hesitated for a second.

"...Do you work tomorrow?" he asked. She blinked.

"No, why?" He pursed his lips.

"My mother wants me to run errands, and I was going to ask if you wanted to come." She blinked and nodded.

"Yea, I'll come," she replied. "Spending days off laying around the house is boring." He smiled.

"Then I'll see you tomorrow," he told her, turning around to walk off.

"Kay," she replied, waving a little and turning to go inside.

When she closed the door, she leaned against it, a frown unintentionally making it's way to her face.

Usually, wouldn't Shisui go with him? She let out a sigh and let her head fall back on the wood, staring up at the ceiling. He had to have been thinking about him again, the way he slightly winced when he asked her if she would go.

She suddenly heard sobbing from the living room.

She stood up in alarm, walking towards the sound of her mother crying.

"Mom?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

Mari was sitting on the couch, clutching a picture of a seven year old Ayano to her chest. She looked up when Ayano entered, and smiled.

"You've gotten so big," she cooed. Ayano went and sat beside her, hugging her.

"What's wrong?" she asked again, as her mother hugged her back tightly.

"Oh, it's nothing," she said back. "Just being emotional." She pulled away and wiped a few tears. "You know I love you, right?"

Feeling awkward, Ayano nodded.

"I love you too, Mom," she replied. "Want some chocolate cake?" Mari grinned and nodded, and Ayano went to fix them both huge slices. They sat in the living room talking, just about random stuff, for the rest of the night, something they hadn't done in a long while.

* * *

The errands the next day had been simple ones, just go shopping, get a certain cook book from the library, go tell Fugaku that Mikoto was mad at him for accidently breaking her best china when Sasuke ran into him. (That was his excuse, but then she scolded him for being a lame ninja because he couldn't hold a cup when he got jostled around a bit.) The entire time, Itachi was looking guilty about something, but when she asked, he would just brush it off. After the second time she asked, though, she noticed he started forcibly acting more carefree, which made _her_ feel guilty. The day passed by rather fast, too, much to her displeasure. She was actually enjoying it a little, when she tried to forget the nagging voice telling her in the back of her mind that she was laughing and having fun when one of her close friends had died two days before. But this wasn't to cheer her up. She was trying to make Itachi smile, who had been rather blank since Shisui was killed.

Itachi walked her to her house that evening, which she was grateful of. She had still been a little paranoid about the other clan members and the imp-man.

"I'm gonna go train after I drop this off," he stated, holding up said bag that contained a book and a loaf of bread. "So I guess I'll see you."

"See you," Ayano replied. He left and she opened the front door, stepping into the house and not seeing any lights on.

"Mom?" she called out. "I'm home!" There was no reply. Confused, she peeked in the kitchen and the living room, then went to check her Mom's room. She checked the backyard, where her turtle Aki was crawling around randomly, but saw no one. "Mom?" she called again. She went back to the kitchen and spotted a white sheet of paper laying next to a pile of cash. Curious, she walked over and flipped through the bills, her eyes widening when she saw the amount. Was her mom doing bills? And if she was, where did she get this money? She picked up the paper and frowned when she saw the dried tear stains on it.

As she read the letter, her skin paled and she started shaking. Tears fell from her eyes, mixing with the dried up ones on the paper._  
_

_Ayano,_

_I'm so sorry, words can't describe it. I had to leave the village, and I don't know when I'll be coming back. I left some money on the counter for you that should last about a year, so be good and try not to spend it all, 'kay? I love you with all my heart, and I promise not to eat anything unhealthy and keep the baby safe ;)_

_-With love, your mother.

* * *

_

**_*le-gasp-ith*_**

**So, the series is getting close to ending soon, but I'm not sure how many more chapters there will be. I'm thinking around four, maybe...?**

**Review!  
**


	13. Chapter 13

**I do not own Naruto**~

* * *

Her heart felt like it had stopped.

She reread the note again, three more times, as if it was playing some sort of trick on her.

No. It's not true.

"Oi, Mom, this isn't funny," she called back. She received no answer. She laughed shakily. "Come on, I know you're there."

This was all just a joke. She knew it. When she found her Mom, she'd appear with Shisui and they'd all be happy again. After she beat the hell out of Shisui and forbid her mother from sweets. Yea, it was a joke.

"Mom, I'm not gonna fall for this," she said flatly. She was again ignored. She stuck the note in her pocket and went through the house again. There was definitely not anybody there, not even in the baby's room. Frowning, she walked out of the house and went to ask the guards if they had seen her leave for the grocery store or something.

They told her that they had seen her leave, carrying a large bag, and that she wouldn't tell them where she was going.

Ayano numbly walked back to her house. Her breathing picked up. She remembered how she walked in the house the day before with her mother crying and holding a picture of her...

What if she really was gone?

She broke out into a run, sprinting back to her house, and threw open the door, not even bothering to shut it.

"Mom!" she shouted. She rechecked all of the rooms yet again. "Mom!!" Her breathing was bordering on hyperventilation, now. Nobody was here. "...Mom?" she called weakly. No answer.

What did she do? Should she wait and see if her mother will come home? Call the police? Go out looking for her? Ask her father?

What should she do?

She turned around and ran back outside, not even aware of where she was going. She just wanted to get away from the emptiness of the house. But when she stopped on the doorstep and banged on the door, she knew what she should do.

Fugaku opened the door rather angrily after her persistent banging.

"What is it?" he asked sharply.

"My mom," Ayano blubbered. She wasn't aware of the tears streaming down her face. "She was there when I left and then I came home and she wasn't there--"

"She's having her baby?" Fugaku finished, eyes widening in surprise.

"No," she sobbed. "She left the village." His eyes widened more.

"How do you know this?" he demanded. Ayano shoved the note towards him.

"She left that," she told him shakily. "Next to a pile of cash." His eyes scaned over the paper, more than once, his eyes widening more every time.

"...There's something we need to tell you," he said suddenly. She frowned.

"But, can't it wait!?" she asked, looking at him sharply. "My mom-"

"Your Mom's not coming back," he said sharply. Her eyes widened.

"Wh-...what do you mean?" she whispered. He glared at her, surprising her.

"Mikoto!" he shouted into the house. "We're telling Ayano, now. Get down here."

"What?" Ayano asked again, her eyes hardening a little. "What are you talking about?"

He grabbed her forearm, dragging her into the house.

She gasped and struggled, screaming and clawing at his arm and trying to pull away. He yanked her foreward, hard enough to make her think she had dislocated her shoulder.

"Jeez, stop freaking out," he hissed. "You're only hurting yourself." She stopped struggling, glaring at him. If she activated Sharingan, she might be able to fight him... "Don't even think about it. You won against that Hyuuga because he was drunk, not because you think you're good at fighting." She scowled at him and he tossed her on the couch. Mikoto came down from the stairs, a hard glint in her eyes. It shocked Ayano. She had only ever seen Mikoto with a kind, motherly look to her face, and now it was like she was almost scowling.

"...What do you want?" Ayano hissed. She wasn't liking where this was going. What were they saying about her mother?

"The Uchiha is planning a coup de' tat," Fugaku deadpanned. Ayano's eyes widened.

She needed to act. Itachi might get in trouble if she told them she already knew.

"...What?" she whispered. "Why!?" Mikoto's gaze shifted between her husband and Ayano.

"Haven't you seen the way the villagers look at us?" he growled. "Noticed how we are confined to one section of the village?" Ayano's brow pulled down.

"Why is that bad?" she asked. "Having one section of the village to yourself? Have you seen the houses you all live in?" She cut herself off. She didn't want to say too much. She was making it sound like she was on the village's side.

"Because it's easier for the council to keep an eye on us when we're all rounded up in one place," Fugaku growled. Ayano frowned.

"Why don't they trust us, then?" she asked. Itachi had told her, but she might as well hear their side of the story.

"Because when this village was founded, the senju clan was made leader, and the Uchiha was shunned because of the fued they had. They though we would start a revolt, so they exiled us to one corner of the village." His scowl deepened. "And now they are getting just what they want." Ayano was trying to control her expression. Now onto the subject of her mother.

"And how does this relate to my missing mother?" she snapped.

"Your mother ran away because she didn't agree with the idea of a coup," Mikoto spoke up. Ayano turned her gaze to the woman. "She didn't care about the clan." She sniffed disdainfully and turned her head. "Good riddance." Ayano nearly blanched. Mikoto, the woman who she thought was the nicest woman she had ever met, that was her mother's best friend, was now talking about her mother as if she were dirt.

But Ayano didn't have to act anymore, though.

"My mother new about it!?" she exclaimed, jumping up in shock.

"Yes," Mikoto replied. "She probably didn't tell you because she knew we wanted you to help us." Ayano looked at her sharply.

"Help you?" she questioned. "What do you mean?"

Fugaku's aura exploded, causing her to fall back on the couch with a gasp. She looked at him in terror.

"That thing you just felt," he began. "It's called chakra. You are extremely good at sensing it, seeing as how I had nearly all of my chakra masked just then. We want you to help us find the council." Ayano's breathing was speeding up.

They wanted her to help them overthrow the government. To help kill people.

"But...I can't fight," she told them weakly.

"You have Sharingan," Mikoto said dismissively. "And we would have shinobi protecting you."

"But I'm not really that good at sensing...chakra," she blurted out.

"Stop lying," Fugaku barked. "You sensed that ANBU impersonator before even Itachi did. That's better than anyone in the entire clan. So will you fight with us?" She looked down at her hands, which were clenched into fists in her lap. How did she tell them she didn't want to?

The front door opened, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Any interruption would suffice.

And when Itachi walked in, she nearly shouted for joy. She quickly got up and nearly ran to him, hiding behind him. He looked at her in confusion and then at his parents, when a scowl quickly formed on his face.

"What's going on?" he demanded.

"I don't want to," she blurted out. He looked back at her sharply.

"What are you talking abou--"

"You don't really have a choice," Fugaku growled. Itachi glared at his father, finally realizing what has happened.

"She does," he defended for her, glaring defiantly. Fugaku glared back at him.

"If her mother went missing, then she has to move in with her father, who works in the government as well. Both of them would be our enemy." Ayano breathing sped up. She didn't want them to kill her father. She wasn't that mad at him. She had to...

Mikoto looked between her and Itachi.

"We took the trouble of getting her to help off your hands, Itachi," she told her son pointedly. He glared at her with as much anger as he could muster.

Ayano's breath caught.

She looked up in disbelief at the Uchiha she was hiding behind. He refused to look at her.

"You..." She couldn't finish the sentence.

He was going to try to get her to fight with them.

He wasn't denying it.

She _trusted him!_

Forget it. She hated the clan.

"I won't!" she yelled. "Find someone else!" And then she ran. She was terrified that they would follow her, but as she ran out the door no one tried to stop her. She didn't run to her house. She didn't want to see the emptiness. So she ran out of the compound, luckily there wasn't any guards today, and as far away as she could, not even stopping to catch her breath. She ran until she got to her old house, the one she had lived in before her mom and dad got divorced. It was still for sale, and it looked like someone had tried to break in. She crawled in through the broken window, careful of the glass, and made her way to her parent's room.

It was just as empty as her other house. But she could still pretend. It still smelled like her father's cologne, or her mother's burnt experiments in the kitchen. She huddled in one of the corners of the house, trying to remember what it was like to have a whole family.

She didn't know where to go.

* * *

Two days had passed. Itachi had searched for her multiple times, but no luck. She wasn't anywhere in the compound, and he had checked around the village. Uruchi and Teyaki were worried for her, and when he asked if they knew where her father lived, they told him she didn't tell him.

"You're distracted," Fugaku stated as he made a move to attack Itachi in his side, which he had left open. Itachi dodged it easily, though, and landed a blow in his father's jaw.

"Hardly," Itachi replied. They were sparring in the clan dojo because Fugaku said he needed to talk to his son about something. "What do you want? I have things to do." Fugaku narrowed his eyes at Itachi. The younger Uchiha had been anything but patient with him since Ayano suddenly disappeared.

"Stop concerning youself with that girl," he commanded. Itachi completely stopped and stood there glaring at Fugaku.

"You're the ones who forced us together," he replied. "It's your problem."

"She's a disgrace," Fugaku shot back. "Her entire family is." He was talking about her mother and father.

"Only her clan," Itachi growled. Fugaku blinked in shock. Itachi turned around and started walking away.

"Itachi," Fugaku barked. "Where are you going?" Itachi paused and glanced at his father over his shoulder.

"To find Ayano," he replied, before walking away again. Fugaku scowled at him.

"Why does that girl mean so much, anyways?" This time Itachi stopped, staring down at the ground, as the wind blew past them. He turned around and stared blankly at Fugaku.

"Ayano is just Ayano," he told him, leaving his confused father behind in the field.

* * *

**Remember how I said that Ayano means "my color" or "my design?" Well, yea, plug that in to one of the Ayano's and you get "Ayano is just my design."**

* * *

He was searching for her with renewed vigor. He hadn't really trained himself as a sensor before, but he was god enough at it to try. At first he though that since she was a civilian, she wouldn't have enough chakra for it to be noticable, but she had activated Sharingan, so she had to have had a decent amount.

So now he was going through the village, street by street, trying to find a small amount of chakra he would recognize as Ayano's. He had been walking for who knows how long, but his worry for her kept pushing him.

He was passing an empty house when he felt a presence that made him stop and look at the house with hope. It was for sale, and there was a broken window in the side of it. He masked his chakra as much as he could. He'd probably give Ayano a heart attack, but if she sensed him she would most likely bolt. He silently crawled through the window, careful not to make any noise, and landed on the carpeted floor in a crouch. He followed the presence until he came to a room that was in the corner of the house, and opened the door.

She was laying on the floor, staring blankly at the wall across from her. She didn't show any sign that she knew Itachi was there. He let out a sigh when he saw her empty expression. He walked to her and kneeled beside her.

"Have you been here the whole time?" he asked her calmly. Her gaze shifted to him and made a pitiful attempt to glare at him.

"What do you want?" she tried to growl. He sighed again.

"I came to find you," he stated. "You've eaten something the past two days, right?"

"I'm not stupid," she hissed, sitting up. It pained him for her to talk to him like that. "I get free meals at Ichiraku's because Ayame's dad owns the place. Go away." He winced and looked her in the eye.

"No," he replied. "Let me explain-"

"Explain what?" she snapped. "How you were going to try to get me to try and help overthrow the government? To help a clan that despises my family kill people? I hate-" He didn't let her finish what she was about to say and clapped a hand over her mouth.

"I remember we had an agreement no to interupt each other," he stated. "Let _me_ explain." She glared at him. "It's true they wanted you to help them with the revolt. They told me to get you to join because you trusted me the most, and they told me that if I didn't coopoerate, then you weren't needed and that they would kill you." He moved his hand, watching her expression carefully. Her eyes were wide in shock. "I didn't know what to do. I knew that either way, you might be killed. I couldn't decide." She lowered her gaze, guilt overtaking her. She hated him for trying to save her life?

Why was her life like this? Why did she have to be born into such a horrible clan?

"Why can't I just have a normal life?" she whispered. "I don't want to fight or anything. I just want to have a normal family and a normal life." She didn't know she had begun crying. "I hate Uchiha!" Itachi frowned.

"I do, too," he agreed. "It's not fair for you or Sasuke." She glanced up at him.

"Then why don't we just leave? Let's take Sasuke and just leave! Maybe we could find my mom!" But Itachi was already shaking his head before she had even finished.

"I have to stop the coup," he told her. "Even if we left, they would still go on with it. There could be another war."

"Oh..." She lowered her gaze again. He frowned.

"Ayano..." he began. "Don't tell anyone Mari went missing." She looked up at him sharply.

"Why!?" she asked. "We need to have someone find her!"

"She left because she wanted the baby to be safe," Itachi told her. "He might not be, especially if she goes into labor any time around the revolt. And if anyone found out that your mother went missing, you would be sent to live with your father, and then I can't keep you safe." She frowned.

"But...what about my dad?" she whispered. He stood up and offered her a hand.

"I have it taken care of. I told Hokage-sama and he has ANBU guarding your dad. You only have to worry about yourself." She frowned more and took his hand, standing up. He offered her a smile. "Now, I'm sure the realtor wouldn't be too happy if he found out someone broke into the house he was selling, so we should leave." She nodded, trying to smile back.

But then she stopped.

"Shit!!" she burst out, hands flying up to cover her face. Itachi was instantly on high alert.

"What happened?" he asked, checking her for injuries.

"I left the door open!!"

...

He blinked and relaxed, allowing a small chuckle to escape him.

"Don't worry, I closed it for you," he told her. She relaxed and laughed.

"Oh, thanks," she grinned at him. It felt good to be friends again.

* * *

**I'm so sorry I haven't updated in so long! . I had massive writers block, and I'm at the beach right now for spring break, and I haven't really had the time to write. Don't hate me!**

**But, even if you do, review!**

**Or I'll get my Sempai to smite you with Jashin, the stuffed ape! Mwaha!**


	14. Chapter 14

**I do not own Naruto**~

* * *

It was even more worse than she thought it would be. Clan members were openly hostile to her, now, and she felt like some were about to attack her at any moment. She couldn't go to work anymore, because Uruchi's and Teyaki's sales were drastically decreasing because of her. So she quit, despite their protests, and told them to put it on her record that she had been fired. She was now looking for another job outside the compound so that she didn't have to blow all the money her mother left for her on bills.

Itachi was paranoid the entire time, too. He would be with her nearly twenty-four, seven, and telling her to keep watch for any chakras nearing her. Under other circumstances, she would have been annoyed beyond annoyed, but she was scared stiff to be anywhere near the compound. He had even taken to leaving a clone with her when he wasn't there or when he was asleep.

But that was the worst of it. He hadn't been as worried before, when he would just check up on her every four hours or so, but when people actually started targeting her, he started exhausting himself. It was getting worse, too, and now he was barely even himself. She was sitting on her bed, leaning against the headboard, reading a cook book her mother had used, and Itachi was sitting on the foot of her bed. He was fidgeting. He had been doing it for a while, and it was speeding up. He was so tense he wasn't even moving. She set her book down with a sigh.

"You're overworking yourself," she accused. "Chill out." He stopped his fidgeting but resorted to chewing his lip. His posture didn't relax at all, and he stared at the window, as if trying to see something that wasn't there. She sighed and glared at him slightly. "Fine then, have it your way." And then she reached forward and grabbed his arm, catching him by surprise, and pulled him back so his head was resting in her lap. His expression basically read 'Huh?'

"Go to sleep," she commanded. He tried to sit up.

"But-" She forced him back down.

"No. Sleep." He sighed and stopped struggling, raising an eyebrow at her. "Don't even say anything. How can you expect to fend off the bad guys if you can't even oppose me?"

"You're just persistent," he stated, looking up at her. She rose an eyebrow back at him.

"And they won't be?" she questioned.

"Not with me, no." She made a face at him.

"You're exhausting yourself," she told him.

"I'm fine," he told her, but didn't try to get up.

"Then since when do you fidget?"

"I have a right to be nervous, don't I?" he shot back.

"So I assume you twiddle your fingers on a S-rank mission?" They paused.

And then broke out laughing at how funny it sounded.

"Fine," Itachi acceded after he had sobered. "But wake me up as soon as you sense anybody." She made another face.

"You make it sound like the're definitely going to attack us," she pointed out. He smirked.

"Shh..." he murmured, closing his eyes. Ayano rolled her eyes.

"So _now_ you decide to go to sleep," she mumbled. He chuckled under his breath, and then he was silent. It took a while for his breathing to slow and even out, but he eventually fell alseep.

He looked like he needed it, too. He was slightly paler than usual, and the usual lines on his face were stressed by the bags under his eyes.

"Jeez," she murmured, lightly touching one of the dark bruises under his eyes. "Insomnia, much..."

"Not quite..." he breathed back, surprising her. "Just...haven't had a...decent sleep for a while..." His eyes were still closed and he looked like he was having trouble putting together a sentence.

"You're too much of a light sleeper for your own good," she said quietly. He let out a breath of amusement.

"It's quite....efficient...during a....mission....." She chuckled.

"I think you're sleep talking," she accused. "You can't even form a sentence. I told you you were tired." He cracked open an eye at her.

"Who can't even form a sentence?" he asked her sleepily. She groaned.

"You're awake again," she complained. "You can't have a thirty minute nap and not be tired anymore."

"Then shush," he told her with a smile, closing his eyes again. Ayano rolled hers. She waited for him to fall asleep again, and knew he wouldn't wake up after his head lolled to the side. She smiled before moving the cookbook closer to her and flipping it open to the page she had been reading. She leaned on her hand closest to the book and used the other to turn the pages. When she reached over to turn the page, her hand accidentally brushed Itachi's hair, and she paused, looking down at him. He slept peacefully, showing no signs of waking.

...how the _hell_ did he get his hair that soft??

She frowned, and carefully picked up a strand from his ponytail that was laying beside his face. Wow, it really _was_ soft. Either he treated his hair specially, or he was just born with hair she would kill for. Frowning in confusion, she gave it a sniff.

. . .

...apples...

She quickly dropped the strand of hair to press her fist to her mouth to keep her laughter form spilling out. Itachi used scented shampoo! It was just too funny! She was shaking from laughing silently, so she tried to think of more sober thoughts before she woke him up. When she had herself under control, she checked to make sure she hadn't disturbed him, but nearly busted out laughing again. She tried to turn her attention back to her book, and let him sleep.

* * *

His eyes fluttered open, wincing at the brightness in the room. He put an arm over his eyes to block it and groaned.

"Not ready to wake up?" a familiar voice asked with a chuckle. His eyes flew open as he remembered where he was. He moved his hand and blinked up in surprise at Ayano. He was still using her lap as a pillow.

"How long have I been out?" he asked groggily. She glanced at the clock on her bedside table and grinned.

"Eleven and a half hours," she stated, grinning down at him. He blinked in surprise.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" he asked. She shrugged.

"Nothing happened," she stated. "And you slept like the dead." He blinked again.

"I did?" She scoffed.

"I got up three times," she laughed. He sat up then, and stretched, wincing at the loud pops his back made. "Seriously, though, when was the last time you had a full eight hours of sleep?" He thought for a minute and shrugged. She frowned. "Your lifestyle is unhealthy," she accused.

"I choose it, not," he replied. "You've eaten?"

"Why are you so concerned I'm anorexic or something?" she mumbled. "I had two bowls of instant ramen, and one stick of dango. And before you even ask, yes, there are more." The corner of his mouth twitched up into a smirk.

"I wasn't going to ask," he objected. She hopped off the bed.

"Well, I was, so come on," she chirped. Itachi rolled his eyes and followed her to the kitchen, keeping a calm pace behind her nearly-skipping. She seemed amused by something he didn't know. She went to the fridge and he sat at the table.

"Mitarashi or chichi?" she asked, looking through the random food.

"Mitarashi," he replied. She pulled out a stick and handed it to him on a plate she snagged from the pantry, then picked up a colorful peice of chichi dango. He thanked her and bit off a whole dango. She watched him, grinning.

"You really do like dango, don't you?" she asked. He paused and shrugged.

"I guess it's my new favorite sweet," he replied. Ayano took another bite of her dango, trying not to get it stuck to her teeth.

She stopped chewing.

Something was coming. She recognized it.

"Your dad's coming," she whispered. He froze, dropping the dango and silently standing up, gliding to the front of the house. Ayano followed him, albeit more loudly, and hid behind the kitchen wall, peeking out. Itachi pressed himself to the wall beside the door, listening.

Seconds later, there was a knock.

"Ayano," Fugaku called. "Itachi. I'm just here to talk." Ayano narrowed her eyes. His chakra didn't seem threatening, at the moment, and his voice wasn't angry.

They both stayed silent.

"Itachi, you can check me for weapons," Fugaku stated. "And there isn't anybody but me here. I know both of you can feel that. I just want to talk with Ayano." Itachi shifted his eyes to Ayano.

"Let's here what he has to say," she whispered. "You can take him on if he tries to do anything, right?" Itachi pressed his lips together and nodded. He opened the door and stared down his father.

"Ah, Itachi," Fugaku stated, having to look up at Itachi because of the step. "Thank you for opening." Itachi norrowed his eyes. Fugaku looked around him at Ayano. "Can we talk?"

"Yup," Ayano replied. "You can stay right there, though." Fugaku pressed his lips together. Itachi didn't move an inch.

"My apologies about the last time we saw each other," he told her. "I was a bit...pushy." Ayano almost snorted. You think? She kept her face blank. "I would just like to hear the reason why you are so adverse to the idea." She narrowed her eyes.

"I'm not really the fighting type," she began. "And I'm not really enthusiastic about fighting for clan members who don't give a shit about each other." He raised an eyebrow.

"Care to elaborate?" he pressed.

"Your wife talked about my mother like she was dirt because she wanted to keep her unborn child safe," Ayano bit off. "Shisui's sister was abused." She had to wince when she said his name. The memories were like salt on the already open wound for them. "You threatened the safety of my father because I wouldn't_ help_ you. I don't see very much loyalty in this clan at all. And you want me to help you overthrow the government because of this clan?" Fugaku was speechless. "I'm not going to help anybody who threatens my family, anyways." He narrowed his eyes then.

"The clan _is_ your family," he told her. She narrowed her eyes back at him.

"No. A clan is a group of people related by blood. A family is made of people who love each other and are willing to sacrifice for other people. You people want to sacrifice other people for your own selfish desires."

Fugaku thought over this for a moment and sighed.

"So this is your answer," he stated. Itachi tensed and Ayano nodded. "Fine. I won't try anymore. I don't have time to be getting you to join when you don't want to." He turned around and started walking away. "I'll tell the rest of the clan not to try and attack you anymore." Ayano could barely believe her ears. Was he really saying this? She looked to Itachi, who had a slightly confused and shocked look on his face.

And then he was gone. After he had turned the corner, Itachi finally relaxed. Ayano let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. Itachi glanced outside for anybody else and shut the door.

"Do you think he meant it?" Ayano asked Itachi. He stared at the door balefully.

"Who knows..." he muttered. "I guess we'll just have to wait and find out."She sighed. They went back to the kitchen and sat in silence. Ayano threw the rest of her dango away. She wasn't hungry anymore. They stayed in awkward silence before Ayano decided she's break it. She pressed her lips together and stared at Itachi. He met her gaze and raised an eyebrow.

"What is it?"

"When was the last time you saw Sasuke?" she asked suddenly. "Like, actually got to spend time with him?" His brow furrowed.

"Why?" She pointed a commanding finger at him.

"Answer or I will refuse to share any more dango," she warned. He cracked a smile, but answered.

"Before you last saw my mother," he answered. "The night before." She grimaced. "What?"

"That was a week ago," she stated. "Have you seen him at all since?" He lowered the dango he had been nibbling on.

"Where is this going?" he asked back.

"I'm just thinking that he's probably wondering what happened to you," she stated. "You should go see him, so he can know that you're, I don't know, alive?" He pressed his lips together.

"Why are you already arguing like I said no?"

"Because you most likely _will_ say no," she replied cheerfully. He sighed.

"Keeping you safe is more important right now," he told her, looking back down at his food.

"Do you not want to see him?" she asked. He looked up sharply.

"I never said that," he defended. "I'm just saying that I know he's safe, and we don't know if my father was telling the truth or not." She leaned against the counter.

"So you _do _miss him," she stated lazily. He shot her a look.

"I know what you're asking, which my answer to is no-" She groaned.

"I feel guilty," she protested. "I feel like I'm stealing away his brother." He sighed.

"You cut me off again," he pointed out and she muttered a 'sorry,' "And I have a better solution." She rose an eyebrow. "It's called clones, Ayano." She managed a weak glare.

"Ninjas cheat," she accused.

"It's not cheating," he told her with a smile., as he leaned back in the chair. "Just thinking outside the box."

* * *

**Mitarashi and Chichi are both different types of dango. Mitarashi is the kind on a stick with the sauce, and chichi kind of looks like candy and is sometimes colorful.**

**I hate this chapter T.T Not as much as the last one, though. I had writers block yet again, so I tried to write stuff that somehow related to the story but to me it just looks like random crap...**

**Review!**


	15. Chapter 15

**I do not own Naruto**~

* * *

She shivered and tightened her arms around her waist as she walked down the compound streets. It was almost fall, and she was going to need a new jacket. Itachi was on an ANBU mission. Turns out his father had been telling the truth, and now the most she got from the other clan members were glares. They were almost as good as smiles compared to how they would occasionally try to attack her. She passed by Uruchi and Teyaki's shop and gave a small wave through the door, which Uruchi replied with a smile. The guards let her pass through the gates without a word, though it always mad her uncomfortable being anywhere near them.

No one greeted her as she walked to the store; she didn't know anyone in this area of the village outside of the compound. She bought a cheap jacket, nothing flashy, just something that would keep her comfortable. She put it on over the jacket she wore on the walk there and with a sigh, began the walk back. Before she got to the compound gate, she noticed a dark-haired, familiar boy walking towards it. Itachi apparently sensed her, and turned around to wait for.

"Hey," Ayano said cheerfully when she caught up with him. "Mission fun?" Itachi shook his head.

"It's never fun, but it went well. I have another tomorrow." She frowned.

"Leaving the village again?" He sighed, passing the guards without a glance.

"There are apparently bandits keeping merchants from traveling through the Toge pass." She made a face.

"That far? They better pay you well," she stated, crossing her arms. The Toge pass was nearly on the border between the Grass Country and the Fire Country.

"Eh," Itachi shrugged. "I've been farther." She rose and eyebrow.

"How far?" she asked. He thought for a minute.

"...Tea Country?"

"Good Lord!" she exclaimed, her brows shooting up. "That could not have been fun." He smirked a little and shrugged again.

"I'm used to it." She pouted.

"Dang ninjas..." she muttered, and Itachi's smile widened. But then it dimmed slightly, and she frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Can you do something for me?" he asked suddenly. She raised an eyebrow.

"Depends," she replied. He almost looked like he was chewing his lip, surprising her. "Are you overworking yourself again?" They paused in front of her door.

"No, no," he quickly defended. "There's going to be a meeting tomorrow night, and they might try to get you to go, so I was going to ask if you could stay at your friend's house?" She blinked. "I'll have my hands full with keeping them away from Shisui's sister, so I might not be able to keep them away from you if they try." Ayano winced.

"I'll call her and ask if I can go to her house," she mumbled. Itachi looked really relieved.

"Thanks," he told her sincerely. He glanced at the watch on Ayano's wrist. "I promised Sasuke I'd train with him. You don't mind if I...?" She blinked.

"Of course," she replied. "You don't get to see him much, lately, don't you?" He shook his head.

"Not really," he admitted. "Between this clan nonsense and missions." Ayano winced again. How much of his time was she taking up? He saw her expression and his eyes widened.

"No, I don't mean it like that," he said quickly. "I choose to spend time with you. It's almost like a break."

"A break?" she repeated. He shrugged yet again, averting his eyes.

"I don't have to _be_ anybody around you," he explained. Ayano's eyes widened. So she got to see _him?_ His true self?

"What about Sasuke?" she asked, her voice sounding surprised. He let a small smile grace his lips and looked back at her.

"I have to be the role model," he stated. "Unfortunately. I can't mess up in the clan's eyes, and so he sees the 'me' they envision, and he tries to beat that 'me.'"

"I think you're wrong," she said suddenly. He rose an eyebrow. "You don't have Sasuke down completely." He was silent, waiting for her to continue. "You said it yourself at your birthday. Sasuke wants to spend time with you. He's not just trying to beat you, he loves you." She smiled. "Even _if_ the clan favors you." His eyes were wide and he had a slightly surprised look on his face. "Well, you shouldn't keep him waiting," she told him scoldingly. She turned him around and pushed him. "See you tomorrow!" He looked back at her.

"Thanks," he told her with a smile. "See ya." She grinned.

* * *

"So, yea, Mom thinks I should go see some of my old friends because I live so far away from you all and haven't seen you in forever," Ayano stated, twisting the phone cord around her finger.

"_That's a _great _idea!" _Ayame gushed over the phone. "_I'll get my mom to pick up some yummies, and we have a bunch of movies! This is gonna be so much fun!" _Ayano grinned.

"Don't forget the dango!" she told her, getting excited as well. She hadn't seen Ayame in a while, except for when she had temporarily run from home, but she hadn't had a sleepover in forever.

"_Come on, we're best friends! I know you can't live without your dango, so my mom's getting that too. You need me to come meet you?_"

"That's okay," Ayano said quickly. "I still remember the way there."

"_Well, okay, then..." Ayame mumbled. "I wanted to see your new house, too! How's your Mum?" _Ayano bit her lip.

"She's staying at a friend's house tonight, because she's about to have the baby," Ayano lied.

"_You're home alone!??_" Ayame nearly screeched over the phone. Ayano had to hold it away from her ear. "_Forget my house, let's party at yours!" _Ayano grinned._  
_

"The guards won't let you in," Ayano laughed.

"_Well then they can take the stick out of their but."_ Ayano laughed again. "_So, come on, we haven't talked in forever! Are there any cute guys in the compound?" _Itachi's face flashed through Ayano's mind and she blushed. Why did his...?

"I-, well," she stuttered. Ayame squeeled on the other end of the line.

"_Well don't tell me everything!" _she told her. _"We have to have something to talk about tomorrow! You're going to tell me all about it!"_

"Kay," Ayano laughed. "See you tomorrow."

"_Ja ne!"_ She put the phone back on the charger with a grin.

* * *

It was a cool autumn day, and she found out she didn't need the heavy jacket she had bought the day before. She threw clothes and a CD player in her bag and made sure to lock the door behind her. There was barely anyone out on the streets, but for some reason she still felt the need to sneak around the place. She found herself taking the smaller roads to get to the main gate, but of course she would be stopped by the guards.

...And Ayame Ichiraku causing a bit of a scene.

"Jeez, I just want to go get her," Ayame was standing in front of the gate scowling at the two guards. She widened her eyes at Ayano. "There you are!" The guards turned to look at her and she felt herself flush in embarrassment. "Come on, this place is dreary!" Ayano walked over to Ayame.

"Mind us asking where you are going?" one of the guards spoke up, eying the bag slung over Ayano's shoulder.

"Just out," Ayame answered for her, grabbing her arm and pulling her along.

"Please refrain from inviting people to the compound," the other guard said sourly to Ayano, who flushed again and mumbled an apology.

"Jeez, who kicked _their_ puppy?" Ayame sighed loudly when they were out of hearing range. Ayano was going to try to scold her, but she couldn't help but grin at her friend's silly phrase.

"_You_ did, apparently," she giggled. Ayame made a show of taking a bow in the middle of the road. Ayano jumped in front of her and tapped her on each shoulder with her CD player.

"Lady Ayame, I know dub you the Purple-Flying-People-Eating-Uchiha-Puppy-kicker. Er," she grinned. Ayame jumped up, clasping a fist over her chest.

"I shall own my ridiculous name with pride," she stated loudly. Ayano giggled. It had been a while since she could just be silly with someone. "Now, come on! My mom picked out all kinds of yummies and I can't wait to stuff my face!"

"But I don't wanna runnn," Ayano whined.

"We got Mitarashi," Ayame whispered in her ear.

"Let's go!" Ayano yelled, pumping her fist into the air. They began running to Ayame's house--well, Ayano was trying to, but her bag kept hitting her legs when she tried--and eventually they started a race, Ayano grabbing her bag and holding it to her chest so she could run easier. When they got to Ayame's house it was a tie, and both girls were panting.

"Hey, Ayano," Ayame's mom greeted as she walked out of the living room to give Ayano a hug. "I haven't seen you in forever, hun! How's it going?" Ayame's mom, Mrs. Ichiraku, looked just like her, except older.

"Good," Ayano replied with a grin. Ayame had wandered of into the kitchen, where a joyful cry of 'yummies!' ran through the house. Ayano and Ayame's mom walked in to see Ayame diving for a bag of chips with an almost feral look on her face. Ayano burst out laughing.

"Her dad dropped her on her head," Mrs. Ichiraku grinned at Ayano, who sniggered.

"You're just jealous you're not a purple-flying-people-eating-Uchiha-puppy-kicker-er," Ayame retorted with a mouthful of doritos.

"Do I want to know?" Ayame's mom asked.

"Nope!" Ayano replied cheerfully. She set her bag down and joined Ayame in her swimming in junk food. Mrs. Ichiraku just laughed and shook her head.

The night went by fast to Ayano, but she had fun. She and Ayame got sick of junk food afer about two hours, so they went and watched sappy love-story movies, and then Ayame tried to get Ayano to tell who she was blushing about when Ayame asked her in she thought anyone was cute. That took about an hour.

Ayano suddenly paused in their game of charades, lifting her face up in the direction of the compound.

Why were the chakras disappearing?

"Ayano?" Ayame asked, peeking around to look at her face. "What's up?"

"Something's...happening," Ayano whispered back, her brow furrowing. They were depleting rapidly. What if...?

She gasped.

What if they were starting the revolt!?

"I gotta go home," she told Ayame suddenly, wheeling around to look at her.

"Huh?" Ayame replied. "Why- wait!" But Ayano was already out the door, throwing on her shoes and racing down the street.

"I'll call you when I get there!" she shouted back.

The streets were empty on the way back to the compound. The cold air bit at her cheeks, and she was grateful for the full moon overhead, lighting her way. Her legs and lungs were burning, but she couldn't stop. What was she even going to do? Why was she going to the compound? Why wasn't she going to the Hokage?

Because he already knew about it.

She passed the compound gates, noticing how the guards weren't at their posts. She paused when she stepped onto the main street. Nothing was out of the ordinary. All the house lights were off, and she didn't see anyone moving around in the streets. She closed her eyes. She still felt chakra moving around, but it wasn't in masses like she expected them to be. With her breathing heavy, she took a few steps forward, glancing around at the shops. A few shops still had their lights on, except Uruchi and Teyaki's bakery.

Ayano frowned. They should be closed by now. Why was the door open? She walked towards it, peeking in.

"Uruchi-san?" she called. "Teyaki-san?" The back lights were off, and there was a bowl of batter on the counter with a spoon next to it. It looked like it had just been quickly thrown there as if they left in a hurry.

She received no answer. She frowned again and walked into the store, picking up the bowl and spoon warily and taking it back to the kitchen, where she covered it and put it in the fridge. She tossed the spoon in the sink and walked back to the front. She saw a bowl filled with banana bread on the floor behind the counter, obviously it had been dropped. Her worry increased. She still didn't feel anything suspicious. Why had they left so quickly?

She picked up the bowl, ready to toss the bread in the trash.

She stopped.

Outside, noises sounding like crashes and thumps came from the other stores, and the lights they had been casting onto the street vanished. She stood frozen, staring at the door.

Some mass of chakra was jumping from store to store. It was huge and dark, almost as bad as the imp-man's chakra. It felt repressed, but her Sharingan activated on it's own, anyways. She waited.

Something black moved past the door, almost too fast for her too see, but see managed to because of her eyes.

A black cloak, long, spikey black hair, and a white mask with red designs swirling around the one hole in the left side of the mask.

He turned his head and she saw the flash of Sharingan as he glanced at her.

And as soon as he appeared, he was gone.

* * *

Madara lightly landed on the ground after he had jumped from the roof of the main house. He sheathed his bloody katana, not even bothering to clean it. He wore the Uchiha blood on him like a medal.

"Your brother's almost here," he stated. Itachi didn't answer, just stared blankly at something far away. He was clad in his ANBU armor, and his mask concealed his face. "And there's one left over hiding on the main road. I can't stay here any longer, you take care of it." The younger Uchiha left without a word to go kill the survivor. It didn't occur to him to make sure Madara actually left the village. His thoughts were too mixed up then for him to think the way he needed to think, to act the way an ANBU should be, completely calm, during a misssion. He landed on the main street silently, using his acute senses to try and find the survivor so he wouldn't have to hunt for them. He felt a spark of chakra coming from Uruchi's bakery. His eyes widened. Was it just his imagination, or was that chakra overly familiar? He flickered to the doorway of the bakery, holding his bloodied katana to the neck of the person who was just about to try and escape.

His eyes widened and a gasp of horror almost passed his lips.

Those eyes, that face, that girl...

He just stood as still as a statue, not even moving. Ayano had her eyes wide, whatever had been in the bowl she was holding had fell.

* * *

**Cliffy! ):D Don't i suck? xDD**

**And on my views of the latest chapter of Naruto, I don't know whether to hate Kabuto for bringing Itachi back like a corpse, or love him for bringing him back at all...You should have seen me when I saw the RAWs. xD My Dad, in the other side of the house, heard my rather loud yelling of profanities xD**

**And have any of you ever read the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series? I did like three years ago, and I love the series, but none of my friends have, so I was the only one freaking out when I saw the trailer...  
**

**Review!  
**


	16. Author's Note

**I would just like to say, I am discontinuing A Star at Midnight and all of my other stories, and I am removing all of the chapters. I honestly can't get anything done around my homework, so I am going to have to stop writing and focus on bringing my grades up.**

**My apologies, **

**~Hikuro**

**Edit: April Fools.  
**


	17. Chapter 17

**I do not own Naruto**~

**Lol, yes, the author's note was a joke xD**

* * *

If you ever think that your annoyed by your family or that you hate them, reconsider. Because you will most likely never be forced do what Itachi did that night. He almost lost his hatred for the clan because he knew some of them were innocent, but he had no choice to but to kill them. He remembered, as he cut them down, the small amount of moments he cherished with other members of his clan. He felt as if his skin was stained with their blood that was flung onto his armor and coated his sword. Even as he watched the red fade away in the Nakano River, the river he killed Shisui in, no matter how much he scrubbed, it would not wash away. He could still feel the warmth of it on his skin, that slick feeling that made him sick to his stomach, still smell that metallic smell.

It was never going to wash off.

He felt Madara drawing near and growled, frustrated, as he stood up and tried to wipe his hands on his pants before shooting a glare at the Uchiha landing before him.

* * *

_His eyes widened and a gasp of horror almost passed his lips._

_Those eyes, that face, that girl..._

_He just stood as still as a statue, not even moving. Ayano had her eyes wide, whatever had been in the bowl she was holding had fell._

"You..." Ayano breathed, her skin pale.

They stood for who knows how long, and Itachi was fearing he would lose control any minute. He couldn't make his katana move an inch.

_Not her. I'll kill everyone else but **her.**_

She had to have known who it was behind the mask, now. Who was holding a blade to her throat, threatening her very life.

Why wasn't she moving? Or trying to get away? Or even screaming?

Why was she smiling?

"I understand," she whispered. Piece by piece, his frozen heart was being broken off and stepped on before being thrown into a fiery pit. "The council couldn't stop them. It's okay." The grip on his blade was starting to shake.

"Why aren't you running?" he whispered. Her smile never wavered, her eyes never left his, even though his were spinning blood red and covered by a mask. He had never dreamed of looking at her with those eyes. "Hurry up and run."

"They'll found out I knew about the coup," she shook her head. "They'll kill me anyways." Suddenly realization hit her. "But my mother knew, too, and they let her go," she mused. She smiled wider at him. "You helped her get out, didn't you?" Numbly, he nodded. He had helped her move to a village up north, and she was continuing to flee to the Rice Field country.

Ayano let out a relieved sigh. "So she's not dead. Thanks." She grinned. "We were going to name him Masaki," she mused. "My brother. That was my grandfather's name." She seemed to be thinking about something for a while. Itachi couldn't move. "Will you make me a promise?"

He nodded again.

"Will you make sure my brother stays safe?" His eyes widened.

She had every intention of dying here.

He can't do this anymore.

"You can do it," he suddenly said in a rush. "Come with me. I'll take you to them. Come with me."

"I'll only be a burden," she objected. Why was she so calm? "You'll have people trying to kill you. You'll get hurt protecting me."

Why were both she and Shisui fine with him killing them?

"I don't care," he told her. "I _can't_ kill you. I _won't_." He moved the blade away from her throat defiantly, down by his side, and took a step towards her. "Come with me. Please." She bit her lip and took a step back.

A sudden prescence shifted Itachi's attention away from Ayano, and he whirled around to face the door.

Why was Madara still here!?

"Madara," he growled. "Get out-" But the older Uchiha had moved before he even opened his mouth.

He was nothing but a blur as he moved past him, towards Ayano.

"We're in a hurry, kid," Madara cut in, standing before Ayano.

Itachi's eyes widened as he turned around to stop him.

But it was too late.

Time moved agonizingly slow as he turned just enough to watch the scene play out.

Madara's blade ran down Ayano's chest, cutting deeply, and she let out a pained and surprised gasp as she looked down at her chest with wide and shocked eyes. She fell, raising her eyes to meet Itachi's, and hit the floor with a hollow thud. Ice ran through his veins.

Time sped up.

"Stop!" Itachi exclaimed, throwing his body in front of her, causing Madara, who was raising his katana to end her, pause.

"We don't have time to decide who we're gonna spare," Madara growled. "I've made sacrifices, too, kid. Learn to deal with them."

"Just leave," Itachi hissed. Madara glared at him and disappeared. As soon as he was gone, Itachi was immediately kneeling beside Ayano.

"I'll take you to the hospital," he told her, unaware of how bad he was shaking. He felt like he had no control over his emotions, right now. He moved her so she was leaning against his knee."You won't die. I promise."

She stared at his mask, her face twisted into a pained expression. She had never been hurt like this before. It was painful, but it also felt strangely numb.

"It's already over," she told him. Her voice was barely audible and came out in a rasp. He tried to pick her up, but her pained gasp made him set her down immediately. "He cut too deep...I'm losing too much blood."

"I can help you," he objected. She shook her head, her hand pressed against her chest, trying to push away the pain. "Damn it, why do you both have to do this to me!?" he burst out suddenly. Even without him saying, she knew he was talking about both her and Shisui. "Why are you both so calm about it!? Don't you want to see Masaki?" She winced, her hand still grasping her chest. Blood dripped down her arm and was pooling around her.

"He'll be fine without me," she murmured. Her eyes were feeling heavy. Itachi's head bent down. His breathing was becoming more labored.

"...Please don't do this to me," he whispered. "I can't do it. Not after what I've done already." Ayano's hand brushed against the necklace draped around her neck.

"He broke it..." she whispered, picking it up by one end and holding it up as much she could. "Well that sucks..." It reflected part of the moon, casting dim glittering beams on the ceiling. She felt like she could feel the moonlight dancing across her skin. The necklace was a thin chain with several charms on it, all silver, but had blood soaking the links. "It needs to be...cleaned, but...you want it?" She moved her eyes back to his face. "I'd hate for them to just...store it in a box forever..." With one shaky hand, he took the necklace, staring down at it. "My...Dad gave it to me, for my..birthday," she told him, then grimaced. "He still thinks I hate him, doesn't he...? That...sucks..."

"You can tell him," Itachi told her, gripping the chain. "Let me help you."

"And what do you think they'll do to me?" she asked him, trying to put more power into her words. "They'll kill me because...I knew about the massacre...." Itachi shook his head.

"One Uchiha can't do anything," he objected. "They wouldn't bother."

"Look at what you did," she fired back. His eyes widened. "I know I'm not as...strong as you, but they won't be worrying about-...that."

"Then I'll stay here," he told her. "I'll make sure they don't hurt you while you heal. I'll take you to your mother after that-" Her voice was soft, but when she opened her mouth he silenced himself right away.

"And how, exactly, would you manage to pull that off...?" She closed her eyes tightly. It was getting harder to breath, and it felt like the pain was beating at her chest at full force.

"Ayano?" Itachi asked. "Ayano, stay awake-"

"It hurts," she whimpered. She could barely breath in. She could feel her heart pounding in her ribs in retaliation to the pain's beating on her chest. He tried to move her again, and pain flared through her as she bit off a scream. "...Stop," she pleaded, panting. Itachi carefully set her back down, his anguished expression covered by his mask.

"I don't know what to do," he whispered brokenly.

God, she could barely _think._ Her eyes shut tightly, and she couldn't control her breathing. She just wanted it to stop hurting.

"Please," she pleaded. She wanted it to stop. "Make it...stop."

"I don't know how," he repeated.

But she did.

Her eyes, seeing black smudges covering her vision, moved down to the katana he still had gripped in his hand.

She weakly grasped his hand, and moved the katana so it pointed at her heart. Itachi breath caught. He was showing no resistance, just staring at her through his mask, eyes wide with horror.

"Ayano," he pleaded. "Dont-" She smiled.

"Sorry," she whispered.

She pulled his hand forward.

He felt it go through her chest, felt the tip brush past his leg, and heard the sound of her cry.

His eyes were wide, staring at her without blinking, as his breath came out in short bursts. Ayano grit her teeth and looked up at him.

Her hand was gentle as it reached forward and slipped under his mask, moving it aside and letting it fall off and clatter to the floor. Itachi couldn't bring himself to move, even as she managed to lift herself up and press her lips to his cheek, her hand leaving blood on his pale face.

"Oyasami," she whispered.

Her hand fell.

She was limp in his arms, and her last breath drifted out and caressed his cheek, almost like a fragile butterfly moving against his skin.

He watched her die, unable to do anything, unable to stop the image as Sharingan burned it into his memory. He had killed her. He wanted to scream, he wanted to cry, to beg the gods to give her back.

His breathing shaky and eyes blurry, he leaned down and lightly pressed his lips to her forehead, his hand gripping her shoulder as he held her bloody body tightly to him, his other hand still holding the sword that stabbed her, with her necklace draped around his fingers.

"I'm sorry..." he whispered. "...Oyasami..."

* * *

**Don't flame! There's still an epilogue!**

**That was not meant to tease you, she really is dead. Itachi reflects in the next chap.**

**Oyasami means 'goodnight.'**

**And Sorry it was short...and that I couldn't write it better. .**

**That necklace she gave him is that one we see later in the anime/manga, btw  
**


	18. Omake 2 DONT HATE TT

**Im sorry X-( I had writers block again, so I wrote this to try and get rid of it...it's another omake, a short one I wrote last night when I got the idea.**

**K, so**, **remember while reading this, that 'Itachi' means 'weasel,' kay? It is vital as to not get confused.**

**...well, you _will_ get confused, but remembering it will make the confusion much funner xD Itachi! Disclaimer!  
**

**Itachi: *sigh* Hikuro does not own Naruto, although Ayano is hers.**

**Me: Dam Scraight :D And btw, in this, it takes place during those four months I skipped earlier in the story, like the evil person I am, just so I could make some time where things like this chapter could occur :D SO Shisui is still alive, Mari is still at the compound, Mikoto is not a bitch, and they aren't trying to blackmail Ayano into joining the coup de'tat!  
**

**On with the Omake!

* * *

**

"Ne, Hiyuki," Sasuke whispered suddenly, looking at the younger girl with a gleam in his eyes.

"Nani?" she replied. They were both at Sasuke's house playing because Hiyuki's mom was out shopping with her older brother.

"My brother taught me how to make clones the other day," he began mischievously. "And for some reason, I don't ever see Itachi-nii or any of my teachers try to clone something that isn't them." Hiyuki sat on the couch beside him.

"Sooo...?" He grinned.

"Let's see if we can clone Blue!" he stated happily. She blinked.

"But Blue-chan is back at my house," she told him.

"Then let's go get him," Sasuke shrugged. "You live just down the road, and my mom lets me go to school by myself." Hiyuki thought for a split second, picturing a bunch of Blue-chans running around. A dazzling smile lit up her face.

"'Kay!" she chirped, hopping off the couch. Sasuke grinned, but then put a finger to his lips.

"But we have to keep it a secret, okay?" he told her. She smiled and nodded her head. "Kaa-san!" he called. "Can Hiyuki-chan and I go get a toy from her house really quick?"

"If you go straight there and come back," Mikoto called from the kitchen. "Stay together, too!"

"Yes, ma'am," he replied obediently. He grinned back at Hiyuki again and they ran out the door and to her house quickly. Hiyuki scrambled around the door for a few seconds, trying to find the spare key, and let them in. She walked up to the cage her pet was in, and Sasuke followed, curiously. He didn't get to see Blue that often. She opened the cage and gently pulled the critter out, cuddling it to her chest.

It was a weasel.

"This is what Aniki is named after?" Sasuke asked, peering at it. "It kind of smells..." Hiyuki made a sound of protest and moved Blue away from Sasuke, glaring cutely at him. They went back to Sasuke's house and just as they were almost to the living room, they bumped into Itachi, who was going to the kitchen.

As payback for earlier, Hiyuki dumped Blue down Sasuke's shirt to hide him, and Sasuke immediately started squirming. He plastered a smile on his face and folded his arms behind his back so Blue wouldn't fall, and tried to hold still when Itachi looked down at him.

". . .What are you doing?" Itachi asked, eyeing him suspiciously. Sasuke kept the grin on his face and twitched when he felt the pet weasel sniffing around.

"N-nothing," he lied, jerking a little when he felt it's claws brush against his skin. Itachi stood still for a moment, staring at him, before continuing to the kitchen, shooting them wary glances.

Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief and struggled to get to get the rodent out of his shirt. Hiyuki gabbed Blue before Sasuke could hurt him and and giggled as Sasuke rounded on her.

"Don't do that," he hissed. Or tried to. He hadn't managed to sound as scary as his Aniki, but he was progressing.

Hiyuki sniffed and turned her head.

"I bet Sasuke-san doesn't think Blue-chan smells bad anymore," she taunted.

. . .Evil children.

So, they went on to try and clone Blue. Unfortunately for Sasuke, he wasn't that good at controlling the little amount of chakra he had, and ended up using way too much. And cloning up something as small as a weasel didn't even take an eight of the amount of chakra needed to make a normal clone.

So now there was an ungodly amount of ferrets running around the main house of the Uchiha compound. Thank Kami Fugaku was at work.

From the kitchen, you could hear Mikoto's scream, where Itachi was standing up in surprise, wondering what the hell he should do about the thirty or so weasels in the kitchen alone.

--

**Warning! This is the part you will get confused! Just remember to plug in either 'Itachi' or 'weasel' in what they are saying xD.**

--

Ayano and Shisui were walking towards Itachi's house after he had gotten back from shopping with his mom so he could spar with Itachi.

"But then where the heck did the chicken come from if the egg was first?" Ayano challenged. Shisui crossed his arms. They had been arguing this for about ten minutes.

"The egg was a mutated reptile egg that was abandoned by it's parents to go live with the other mutated reptile eggs," he stated simply. Ayano burst out laughing.

"I think you're stupid on purpose," she stated. "No offense or anything." He grinned and shrugged.

"Hey, it got you to laugh," he defended. "And as to the question, I'd rather believe in evolution than blow my brain up thinking about it." Ayano grinned again, and opened her mouth to reply--

When a loud shriek filled the streets, coming from the main house. Ayano started, and Shisui looked at her, before she broke out into a run and Shisui flickered to the door. Just as he was reaching for the handle, the door was slammed open and Sasuke ran straight into Shisui. Shisui grabbed his shoulders before he fell back.

"What's happening?" Shisui demanded. Sasuke blinked up in surprise at his older cousin before blurting out his answer.

"Itachi's killing all the weasels!" he exclaimed. Shisui blinked, and Ayano stopped beside them, breathing slightly heavy, just in time to hear Shisui's reply.

"...There's a weasel committing mass murder?" he asked slowly. Sasuke made a face as if to ask him what the heck he was talking about. Ayano rose an eyebrow at Shisui before looking at Sasuke.

"A weasel?" Ayano asked. "What about a weasel?" Sasuke turned to her.

"I tried cloning Hiyuki's pet and now there's a lot of weasels crawling around," he explained.

"Why??" Ayano asked.

"Wait, so what does my sister's pet have to do with Itachi?" Shisui asked. "And since when was a weasel homicidal?"

"Itachi's homicidal!??" Ayano blurted out in shock. Sasuke sighed.

"No, my brother is killing the weasels!" Shisui gaped.

"Itachi's suicidal!??" he exclaimed, mimicking Ayano's earlier tone as his face paled and he called back into the house, "Don't do it, Itachi!" Sasuke facepalmed.

"No, my brother is killing the rats!" he told them, exasperated. Shisui paused and looked at Sasuke scoldingly. (**A.N/ I don't care if it's not in the dictionary, it is now 7:D**)

"It's not nice to call Itachi names when his emotions are so. . . emotional, you know," he told him. Ayano blinked.

"The weasels are emotional?" she asked. Sasuke made another face.

"Why would they be emotional!?"

"Because one of their friends is killing them all," Shisui shrugged.

"**Shisui**!" an obviously pissed voice called from inside the house. "If you don't **get in** here, I am **killing** you!" Shisui made a face and actually looked kind of scared.

"Did Itachi just threaten my life?" he asked.

"The weasel can talk??" Ayano asked in alarm. "And it threatened you??" Shisui shook his head.

"No, Itachi."

"It threatened Itachi? Poor thing..." A loud sigh could be heard even outside from somewhere in the house amongst the chaos.

"Will you both just **please** get in here and help out?" Ayano finally recognized the voice as Itachi's, and he sounded like he was trying way too hard to be patient. Shisui blinked once, twice, and then--

"It's weasel-stomping day!" he crowed, charging in the house.

And after a few hours of going throughout the house, finding which weasel was the real one (Shisui kept humming 'pop goes the weasel,' much to Itachi's annoyance), they finally found it curled up in the laundry room, taking a nap in the hamper.

When it was all done, Itachi let out a sigh. This day was...eventful. Hiyuki had Blue held against her chest, as if to protect it from the nasty looks it was getting from everyone.

"Hey, Sasuke," Itachi began cheerfully. Sasuke winced and looked up at his brother. This wasn't going to end well.

"Yes, Aniki...?" Itachi smiled cheerfully.

"Do you know why tomorrow is going to be such a good day?" he asked. Ayano and Shisui felt a strange aura coming from him they hadn't felt before, that almost gave them chill bumps.

"No, why?" Sasuke was clueless.

"Because I get to watch you clean up all the messes you caused." Both Ayano and Shisui's eyes widened, and they immediately turned to each other, whispering, while Sasuke tried to put on a 'kicked-puppy' expression.

"Oh, my god," Ayano breathed. "Was that_ really_ Itachi??"

"I _knew_ it!" Shisui was telling her. "Underneath every person there's the 'mean older brother' part of them! _Even_ Itachi!" Itachi, having heard them, glared slightly.

"But it smells like weasel!" Sasuke protested.

"It smells like Itachi?" Ayano repeated.

"Itachi smells like this?" Shisui asked. He looked at his younger cousin. "No offense, but you need a shower."

Itachi just sighed again.

* * *

**Okay, the whole Sasuke knowing how to clone stuff and chakra stuff should NOT be true, but it just fit with the story so I wanted to use it...**

**So, did the whole Itachi=weasel thing confuse you? xD**

**And no, Ayano and Shisui were NOT on a date.**

**And I have another omake that i've been playing around with, trying to see how it would play out...but if I do write it, i'll give you a hint as to what it is.**

**What if Itachi was ticklish?**

**XD lol, I know, sounds stupid**

**and I'm still working on the epilogue, I'm completely stuck though, so...**

**Review!  
**


	19. Epilogue

**I do not own Naruto~**

* * *

_He kills without reason._

He stood on the top limb of the towering pine tree beneath him, his gaze even and blank as he watched the clouds disappear behind the mountains.

_He kills without feeling._

Madara was perched on the tree next to the one he was in, staring at him. They were waiting for a person Madara had refused to reveal, but said it was important for Itachi to meet him.

_Buries his emotions,_

The sun shone cheerfully down from the blue sky, light breezes gently ruffling the dark hair framing his face. Everything was so calm and peaceful.

_His beliefs,_

It clashed with the tumult of emotions and thoughts running through his mind, making him want to scream.

_His sane thoughts_

But he didn't.

_ All for the sake of the mission._

He kept a carefully calm expression plastered on his face, not letting one thing show. Nothing that would give any hint away as to what he was feeling.

_He does without asking,_

"What are you thinking about?" Madara asked suddenly. It made Itachi want to throw something at him, preferably something sharp.

_Kills as he's told,_

"I believe I have the right to be thinking about alot of things," Itachi answered cooly, not even bothering to glare at him. The old man's wit had most likely decreased as he aged.

_Like a puppet_

"Oh, are you thinking about that pathetic boy you left alive?" Madara ignored the obvious warning. His voice was almost taunting. "Or that girl I cut down?" This time Itachi glared at Madara, unable to completely control himself.

_As he danced on the marionette's strings._

"Isn't that her necklace?" Madara stupidly went on, obviously taunting now, and having fun while doing so. "That wench's. Did you love her?"

_Except it's not fun,_

Itachi was in front of him then, his new eyes spinning dangerously as he fingered the blade hidden in the sleeve of his newly aquired cloak.

_like the puppet_

"I see you do not have much sense of self-preservation," Itachi said, his voice dangerously calm.

_It's not Beautiful,_

"Do you miss them?" Madara continued as if he didn't know Itachi was about to stab him. He was trying to get Itachi to crack. The boy had been so calm during the massacre, except for when he cut that girl. But it wasn't enough for him. He wanted to see the raw emotion. He wanted to see what he really looked like. "Do you regret it?" Even behind the mask, Itachi could almost _taste_ that damn smirk.

_like the dancing_

Madara was underestimating him. It infuriated him. He even had the nerve to laugh. The sound drove a stake through his control.

_it's dark_

Black flames exploded into existence as they englufed the older Uchiha. An agonized scream filled the air as Madara fell back, swatting at the flames to try an put them out.

_and wrong_

Itachi let out a pained gasp as he clapped a hand over the eye that was now dripping blood. His vision swirled and he suddenly felt sick.

_and covered in blood._

He blinked rapidly at the warm spots covering his vision as he looked down and tried to find Madara past all of the tree limbs. When he felt a spark of chakra suddenly disappear and reappear, he dropped down to find a burnt patch of grass, and next to it, an unscathed Madara.

_ It's for the sake of his village_

Madara had been caught off guard. He could have killed him.

But his anger was still clouding his mind, making him continue to attack the man as he rushed forward, unvealing the previously not-so-hidden blade.

_At other's expense_

Itachi couldn't wear the mask for this long, with what had happened just the night before. And he couldn't calm himself enough to collect himself. He needed to vent, to _breathe._

_But they don't matter_

Madara barely had time to even retaliate as Itachi mercilissely attacked him, not even leaving a single opening in his blind rage.

_As long as the mission was completed._

Madara flickered behind Itachi and tried to land a blow on the pressure point on the side of his neck, but Itachi ducked in time and spun around, sweeping his leg to try and trip Madara.

_He was a puppet_

"Calm down!" Madara roared as he jumped to avoid the kick, but Itachi ignored him. He lunged upwards, landing a chakra-infused punch on Madara's jaw and sensing him flying back.

_A toy_

He couldn't think. This man killed his family, he killed Ayano.

_A dog_

A sudden thought filled his head, making him stop dead in his tracks and widen his eyes in horror.

_A dispensable thing they could use at their will._

But so did he.

_He was a shinobi._

He killed his family

_A killer,_

He killed Ayano.

_protector,_

Killed Shisui.

_A friend._

Made Sasuke hate him.

_A traitor._

For the sake of thousands of people he didn't know.

_An honored man while_

He was suddenly filled with grief and self-loathing at the reality of what he had done.

_A scorned soul_

Madara stood up warily, watching the emotions play across Itachi's face. He smirked triumphantly.

_It didn't matter what they thought of him,_

Itachi knew he needed to find his mask again. He knew he shouldn't show this weak side of him to Madara.

_The mission came first._

Another chakra was nearing, and it was threatening enough to make Itachi snap out of it, and glance in the direction it was coming from.

_He was a mindless tool,_

He turned back to Madara, only to find him vanished without a trace. He grit his teeth.

_A puppet, a-  
_

"Coward," he hissed to no one in particular. He relaxed his stance and turned to the chakra, picking up the broken peices of his mask and sweeping his face of any emotion.

_Used for their dirty work._

He couldn't lose control that way again.

_He did his job perfectly,_

He couldn't risk blowing his cover, in front of Madara especially. He needed to be calm and unreadable.

_Following the rules,_

Whoever the chakra belonged to finally emerged from the trees, heaving a huge wrapped sword over his shoulder. Itachi's eyes narrowed warily. The man had blue skin and beady eyes and nearly reminded him of some sort of fish or shark.

_But in the end_

"This brat is going to be my new partner?" the man said incrediously, scrutinizing the Uchiha. Itachi shifted into a fighting stance unconsciously. The man had impressive chakra, and Itachi's Sharingan showed that most of it was radiating from the sword.

_Nothing would change._

"Oh, well," the man sighed. He shrugged the sword off and it hit the ground loudly, showing how heavy it was. "I'll give you an option, kid," he began. "If you can stay alive, I'll let you be my partner."

_Acting in front of others for their amusement,_

The man grinned. "The name's Kisame, by the way. And try not to be too weak; the last candidates sucked, so I killed them." He chuckled darkly.

Itachi kept his expression blank as he assessed his opponent. The way his chakra swirled...he was water style. And his stance and how he handled his sword showed that he was experienced with it and could move fast.

He tensed, rolling onto the balls of his feet and preparing to fight. This would be his new life from now on.

_ He'll be just a puppet until he dies._

** And, voila! There you have it. Sorry i didn't post it for so long, i've just had writers block.**

**And I'll have you know that this was physically painful to write, because I had to do it on the note pad on my iPhone, which means writing out the codes for italics and bolds and spaces. So yea, in vase I messed up somewhere, or just completely screwed up the wholedamn thing, I'll fix it when I can get on an actual computer. My damn brother doesn't like sharing his when he's playing World of Warcraft and I have to do one small damn thing...oh, well. Review!**


	20. Final Chapter!

**I do not own Naruto~**

* * *

Sasuke tried to squeeze himself in tighter between the wall and the bookshelf in his living room, and excited bubble of laughter almost bursting through his lips. Ayano glanced at him from her spot on the couch beside Shisui and felt a grin tug at her lips at how much fun he was having. She could hear Itachi upstairs, who was pretending to look for Sasuke and purposefully being loud only for his baby brother's benefit.

"Hm, he's not here either..." Itachi mused loudly from the hall upstairs. Sasuke giggled. Itachi looked towards Ayano with a smirk as he paused by the stairs. She grinned back.

They had been playing hide-and-seek since about thirty minutes ago, when Sasuke caught them going to the field behind the compound to train an begged them to play with him. Ayano caved instantly, and Shisui after that, and even Itachi couldn't turn down the puppy dog eyes.

Shisui chuckled at them before returning his attention the the scroll he was not reading.

"Why do you even bother if you don't even read it?" Ayano asked as Itachi silently walked down the stairs, wanting to surprise Sasuke. Shisui glanced up at his cousin with a smirk when Itachi rolled his eyes at them.

"So if Itachi's old man walks in I can claim I was reading the mission report," Shisui replied smoothly. He had had the scroll sitting in his lap for a while, now, considering Itachi found them almost instantly, but he was still at the very beginning of it.

"Who's old?" A deep voice rang out. Shisui jumped five feet, and even Sasuke jumped a little.

"I'm sorry, sir, I didn't mean- Oh, you're an _ass_!" Shisui accused Itachi, who was snickering. Ayano looked around, not seeing Fugaku anywhere.

"How'd he do that?" she asked, looking back at Shisui. He pouted, looking down to actually read the report this time.

"Just focus some chakra in your voice box and you can change it," he told her, "Itachi does it to me all the time." Ayano couldn't stop herself from laughing a little, too.

They heard footsteps walking towards the living room and Itachi paused for a second to look at his mother, who had paused in the kitchen doorway.

"Sasuke!" Mikoto called, not seeing him and wondering where he was. "Want to go for ice cream?"

"Ice cream!" Sasuke shouted in joy, immediately jumping out of his hiding spot and not seeing his brother, who was waiting for him.

Itachi snagged him by the waist before he could get away and started tickling him with a smile on his face.

"Aniki!" Sasuke protested between his laughter. "Haha, you ch-cheated!" He squirmed to get away. Itachi paused, looking over his head, and poked his forehead, making Sasuke complain with a grin. He let Sasuke go and his little brother ran to the front door and slipped on his shoes.

"We'll be back in a second," Mikoto told them with a smile.

"Later," Ayano smiled, waving a little, and Mikoto left with Sasuke. They were silent after they left, not really having anything to do anymore, so Itachi grabbed a random book from the shelf he was by and sat on the love seat on the other side of the couch while Shisui tried to care about the mission report. Ayano was quickly bored.

"Wanna go train, now?" she asked them both. Shisui looked up, an excited grin forming on his face, before Itachi cut him off.

"If he doesn't read the report he'll get demoted," Itachi stated, giving his cousin a hard look. Shisui pouted.

"Demoted?" Ayano repeated. Itachi sighed.

"He hasn't read the reports a little too many times," he explained.

"Well fine then," Shisui sulked, "This report refers to the one we filed before this. Can I borrow yours?"

"If you don't lose it like you did yours," Itachi stated, already standing up.

"I didn't lose it," Shisui protested. "It's just at home and I'm _way_ too lazy to get it myself." Ayano snickered and Itachi rolled his eyes before disappearing up the stairs.

As soon as he was gone, Shisui turned to her.

"Okay, I've had this nagging thought in the back of my head," he began carefully. She blinked at his sudden seriousness.

"...What?" she asked warily. His eyes shifted to the stairs.

"Do you feel his aura?" he asked her. She blinked, but shook her head. He was in his room, she was guessing. But what did that have to do with anything?

He grinned evilly, and Ayano figured that whatever Shisui was planning for his little cousin wasn't going to end well for the receiving end of his idea.

"What are you thinking...?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him. She wouldn't be surprised if it was illegal...

"Oh, it's not that bad, lighten up," Shisui scoffed. "But seeing him just now got me thinking, cause I've never seen his parents do it to him..."

"Just tell me already," Ayano huffed.

"Okay, okay," he grinned. He looked towards the staircase again before leaning closer and cupping a hand beside his mouth in a whispering motion. "...I was wondering...is Itachi ticklish?"

Ayano blinked. That sounded...completely absurd.

"That just seems impossible in every way," she stated. "I mean, it is Itachi we're--" She noticed the look on his face. "Oh, _heck_ no! Get that look off your face!" He blinked innocently at her, and she crossed her arms stubbornly, glaring at him. "Come on, he'll kill us! Do you have a death wish??" He grinned.

"No, he'll kill _me_," he told her. "But he won't even touch you. I can guarantee that." She rose an eyebrow. "Come on! What's the worst he would do to you?"

"Maim me?" she asked dryly.

"He wouldn't go that far," Shisui scoffed.

Ayano thought about it for a minute. Shisui was right: what is the worst he would do to them? It wasn't that big of a deal...But he would still be pretty mad...

"I'm in," she stated, her curiosity getting the better of her. "How do we do it?" Shisui grinned mischievously.

Itachi sighed angrily. Someone had been in his room. The mission report he had kept in the safe hidden by a genjutsu had just disappeared, when Itachi knew he hadn't taken it out of the safe since he put it there. He figured it might have been his father, but he wouldn't have bothered to put the genjutsu back up around it, let alone keep it from his son.

He shut the safe with a frown and stood up, re-cloaking it and standing up. Looks like Shisui would just have to get his own--

Wait a minute. Itachi stopped himself. He read over that report Shisui was currently reading. It had nothing to do with the previous report.

He felt an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach as he left his room and walked down the stairs, intent on telling Shisui he wouldn't fall for any of his tricks. He just _knew_ his cousin was planning something. He could hear Ayano giggling in the living room, an assumed Shisui was indeed, neglecting his work again. Just as he reached the bottom steps he opened his mouth, prepared to chew out Shisui for multiple reasons.

But then Ayano appeared out of nowhere, darting around the corner and crashing into him. He felt them falling, and instinctively grabbed her and maneuvered himself so that he would take the brunt of the force. As he hit the ground, he let out a grunt, and Ayano quickly rolled off of him.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking up at her in confusion when she saw he had moved to sit on the floor behind him.

And then his hands were grabbed and restrained, and he blinked in surprise before trying to free himself on reflex, sitting up, but a much heavier object launched itself at him, forcing him back down.

"What are you doing?!" he growled, trying to buck Shisui off of him, but his older cousin just grinned as he sat on his stomach. Itachi glared up at Ayano, who had his hands pinned to the ground above his head. "Get off me!" Itachi ordered, thrashing a little, but not too much, as to not hurt Ayano. When he was released, Shisui was _soo_ going to get it...

A sudden pressure was on his stomach and his muscles tensed. He glared down at Shisui, who was pouting after he received no reaction.

"He's not ticklish," he whined to Ayano, and Itachi blinked.

"...You're trying to tickle me," he asked, though it sounded more like a statement. His voice sounded as if he was asking if they were mental.

"Try his sides," Ayano suggested, acting like Itachi hadn't said anything. Itachi turned his narrowed eyes on her. Traitor!

Hands attacked his sides and he stiffened uncomfortably, narrowing his now blood-red eyes at his cousin even more in a silent death threat.

"That didn't work either!" Shisui complained. They heard the front door open, and Sasuke walked into the living room, the remnants of an ice cream cone still on his face. He paused when he saw his older brother pinned to the floor with his hands held by Ayano and Shisui sitting on top of him.

"...What are you doing to Aniki?" he asked slowly.

"Trying to tickle him," Ayano replied casually, as if she wasn't pinning down _the_ Uchiha Itachi by his hands and trying to tickle him.

"Tickle him?" Mikoto asked, walking in behind Sasuke and wiping off his mouth with a paper towel she had just gotten from the kitchen.

Itachi's eyes widened at his mother, as if pleading with her.... Ayano blinked. Actually, it kind of looked like he was begging for mercy...

A grin finally found it's way onto Ayano's face as she figured out the reason he actually looked kind of scared right now. If anyone knew where Itachi was ticklish, it would most likely be the woman who changed his  
daipers as a baby, right?

"Mikoto-san," Ayano began with a sweet smile on her face. "Do you where Itachi would be ticklish at?" Mikoto blinked before grinning, and Itachi felt his heart drop.

"He's not ticklish," Mikoto stated coolly, her expression now controlled, and Itachi breathed a sigh of relief. Almost. An evil smirk found it's way onto his oh-so-dear Mother's lips. "But if he was, it _wouldn't_ be below his arms on his ribs." Itachi glared vehemently at her. Shisui looked from Mikoto to Itachi with an evil smirk on his lips, and reached towards him.

"Touch me and you're not getting your hands back," the pinned Uchiha growled. Shisui paused and raised an eyebrow.

"And what are you going to do?" He asked mockingly.

"Kick your ass as soon as she lets me up." Yes, when _she_ lets him up. If it was just Shisui holding him down, he would have no problem at all.

Shisui scoffed and quickly reached forward.

Itachi spit out a curse and writhed, trying to get away from the unfamiliar feelings. He couldn't get Shisui off or away from him because Ayano had his arms, and the entire lower half of his body was temporarily immobilized. Ayano actually had trouble holding his arms down, now, and had to use alot of her strength, which wasn't much of course, but still. Shisui was relentless and didn't give him one chance to even breathe. Itachi tugged more against Ayano's grip, squirming to get away and failing. Mikoto watched with amusement and Sasuke giggled at his brother's predicament.

And then...

The corner of Itachi's lip lifted up, and he choked out a breath he had tried to repress. Shisui grinned even more, and Ayano giggled.

"Let," Itachi panted, "Go!" A short burst of laughter fell from his lips with the word, and he immediately tried to stop it by holding his breath. But he couldn't do that for ever, now could he? He gasped for breath, and tried kneeing Shisui, but his cousin dodged.

And then he laughed.

He couldn't stop the unfamiliar noises coming from him that had opened like a floodgate as he writhed, trying in vain to still get away from his attackers. The feeling still didn't stop, and squeezing his eyes shut, he gave up. Laughter spilled freely from him now, as Mikoto's eyes twinkled with delight. She hadn't heard him laugh like this in so long...

Ayano and Shisui couldn't help but laugh themselves. Itachi couldn't stop himself from laughing harder, and he was starting to get tears in his eyes. Of course he hated it, but...he had to admit it was almost _kinda _fun. He started feeling slightly dizzy, and tried to tell Shisui to stop again.

"Can't... breathe!" he gasped out between laughs. The fiendish hands finally stopped and withdrew, and he stopped laughing, panting to try and calm himself. Her arms tired, Ayano let his hands go.

Bad idea.

An angry fist connected with the side of Shisui's jaw, sending him rocketing off of his cousin. Mikoto made a noise of protest as Shisui hit the bookshelf and knocked over a stack of books. Itachi was on his feet in one fluid motion, straightening his clothes, and Ayano gulped. Itachi turned slightly to stare blankly down at her. After a few seconds, making her sweat a little, Itachi turned to face her and leaned down so he was eye-level with her, his expression uncharacteristically turning mischeivious.

"Mind me asking what that was for?" he asked her calmly as Mikoto attempted to scold him. Shisui was obviously awake, but apparently rather chose to stay on the ground.

"I-I just wanted to hear you laugh," Ayano squeaked, unable to look away. His eyes were still hard, but she could have sworn she saw some part of them soften.

He had to admit, he did feel a little guilty when he realized how far they had to go to make him laugh. But right now he had a rather opportune moment, so he pretended to still be mad.

"And so you went as far as to try to restrain me?" he nearly purred. Ayano realized any girl in the village would kill for Itachi to talk to them like that. An unfamiliar bubble welled up inside her. Ayano swallowed and raised her chin defiantly. Like Shisui said earlier, whats the worst he would do to her?

"'Try?'" she repeated. "You looked pretty restrained to me." Both Mikoto and Itachi blinked in surprise at the defiance in her voice. When Itachi was acting like this his ANBU team would most likely wet their pants.  
Itachi realized she thought he wouldn't do anything to her. He smirked. Oh, how she was wrong.

"Is that so?" he asked calmly. She smirked smugly at him. "Fine then." And then he closed the three feet between them in a second and she gasped in surprise, the smirk flying off her face.

**(A.N/ Ha! Bet you thought he kissed her, huh?)**

Ayano fell back, thrashing, with loud giggles escaping her. Itachi grinned above her and moved the hands that had been tickling her stomach to her sides, and she squeeled, laughing.

"Quit it!" she protested with a grin, trying to wiggle away from him but backed up into the couch. He grinned again and released her, and she laughed once more before trying to catch her breath.

"Meanie," she accused breathlessly.

"At least I didn't pin you to the ground," he countered lightly. She grinned.

"Yea, but you had me with my back against the couch, so it's basically the same thing."

"Okay, okay," Mikoto interrupted with a grin, wanting to get Shisui up so he could straighten the books. "Since Sasuke and I went for ice cream, do you kids want something to eat?"

"Yea!" Shisui agreed immediately, jumping up from his spot on the ground where he was presumably 'knocked out.' Mikoto grinned.

"Great. You can have some after you fix my shelf." He made a sound of protest. "Ayano, will you help me cook? And what would you guys like?" Ayano grinned.

"Do you have mochiko?" she asked. Mikoto grinned an looked at Itachi, who turned his face away from her with a 'hmph.'

"Yes," Mikoto answered. "Itachi and I tried to make dango the other day but failed miserably." Ayano laughed.

"I'll do it," she chirped, hopping up. "I can make some killer dango. Got any sugar?" Mikoto nodded. "Good. Now Itachi, come watch and learn, because we all know you're hopeless without me in the kitchen." She grinned at him and he rolled his eyes but smiled, getting up to follow her.

Mikoto's eyes gleamed evily after them.

**_Perfet Wife for Itachi checklist:_**

_Likes kids (I can expect grandkids!),_

_Sasuke likes her, vice versa,_

_He actually likes being around her,_

_Is a girl,_

_Is an Uchiha (kinda),_

**_She made him laugh!_**

_Can cook._**_  
_**

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**Thanks everybody for keeping up with A Star at Midnight** **reviewing! ****I am sad to say that this is the last chapter T.T But I have enjoyed writing this story, and I hope you have enjoyed reading it :D  
**

**Please review!** *sniffle* **For the last time!**


	21. Author's Note 2

**Alright, **

**I went back and looked at this story the other day**

**and decided I think it's pretty bad and that I'm going to redo it.**

**It's just, it was one of the first stories I published on here, and now that I feel I've gotten better at writing, I want to make it better.**

**But currently I have another story on another account that I've been working on (it's pretty angsty, but it's a yaoi. PM me if you want the name) and then I have two other stories that are unfinished on this account, so don't expect it anytime soon ^^* **

**-Hikuro**


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